5.2 Explaining Female Crime

Cards (16)

  • What is a biological reason why women commit less crime?
    Their bodies release more oxytocin (happier & reduces stress & anger)
  • Are women or men more likely to be victimised by an acquaintance?
    Women
  • Moral panic about girls (Sharpe)

    Professionals are influenced by media stereotypes of violent 'ladettes'.
    Self fulfilling prophecy and amplification spiral occurs: girls misbehave more and are convicted more, leading to more negative media coverage
  • Net widening (Steffensmeier and Schwartz)

    -No change in women's involvement in violent crime
    -Rise in arrests is due to justices system 'widening the net' & arresting women for less serious crimes
    -Female police officers don't have chivalry bias
  • What is a criticism of Heidensohn & Carlen's two theories?
    They see women's behaviour determined by external forces & underplay the importance of free will & choice
  • Why did the inability to make these deals lead to crime?
    -Crime is the only route to a decent standard of living
    -They have nothing to lose and everything to gain
  • What has caused women not to make the gender deal?
    Abuse by fathers or partners
    Spent time in care, broke the bonds with family members
    Homelessness, unemployment, poverty
  • What has caused women not to make the class deal?
    Poverty
    Struggled to get jobs even with qualifications
    Many women experienced humiliation when trying to claim benefits
  • Carlen's Class and Gender Deals
    Class deal- women working will be offered material rewards of a decent standard of living
    Gender deal- patriarchal ideology promises women material & emotional rewards from family life by conforming to the norms
  • What is a criticism of the liberation thesis?
    The female crime rate began rising long before the women's liberation movement
  • Liberation Thesis (Adler)

    -As women become liberated from patriarchy, their crimes will become as frequent & serious as men's
    -Commit more 'male' crimes like violence & white-collar crime
  • What are 2 examples of how women are controlled & consequently commit less crime?
    Childcare & housework forces them to stay at home for long periods of time and reduces opportunities to commit crime
    Fear of crime in public reduces opportunities
  • Control theory (Heidensohn)

    Patriarchal control over women causes them to commit less crime e.g childcare & housework reduces opportunities to commit crime
  • How does Walkgate criticise the sex role theory?

    It has biological assumptions
  • Sex Role Theory (Parsons)

    -Men socialised to be tough and agressive, boys reject models of femininity and distance themselves from it which can lead to delinquency
    -Women socialised to be caring and responsible and follow female role models & less likely to commit crime
  • What are the 3 main explanations for gender differences in crime?
    Sex role theory, control theory & liberation thesis