Carlen

• Pat Carlin's research focused on feminist theories of crime and deviance
• Carlin examined how women were controlled in various areas of society due to patriarchal control
• Limited socially approved pathways for women led to criminality when rejected or unachievable
• Women selected for the research had criminal records, experienced poverty, and some were brought up in care
• Carlin suggested that these women were destined for criminality due to barriers in following legitimate pathways
• Carlin rejected Frieda Adler's ideas and argued that women were still controlled through formal and informal social mechanisms
• Women were controlled in behaviors based on society's expectations of how they should behave
• Carlin outlined two ways in which women were expected to conform to social expectations: the class deal and the gender deal
• Class deal:

  • Women sold their labor for material rewards like wages
  • Expected to be obedient, passive, and submissive to employers
• Gender deal:

  • Acceptance of traditional roles of housewife and mother
  • Women rewarded emotionally through caring for children while supported financially by partners
• Carlin suggested that criminality resulted from women rejecting or having opportunities for these deals blocked
• Evidence from contemporary research, like the Corston Report, supports Carlin's ideas of the class and gender deals
• Increasing pressure on women in contemporary society to conform to both the gender and class deals
• Some post-modernists argue that women have more choice in contemporary society and the class deal is more diverse
• Critics suggest that Carlin's focus on patriarchal control may be overstated in contemporary society due to increased opportunities for women and changing attitudes to family life
• Carlin's research focused on those who had not accepted the class or gender deal, but it fails to explain why some working or married women may turn to crime