Chivalry Thesis

• Explanations For Gender Differences

  1)Crime stats are valid and women really are much less criminal than men.●2)Crimes typically committed by women are less likely to be noticed or reported – e.g. shoplifting or prostitution.●3)Women only seem less criminal because they are given an easy ride by the justice system.
• Most agents of justice (police officers, judges etc) are men, and men are socialised to act in a ‘chivalrous’, protective way towards women.

  Otto Pollack 1950: ‘Men hate to accuse women…police officers dislike to arrest them, district attorneys to prosecute them, judges and juries to find them guilty, and so on’

  Therefore women are less likely to appear in official crime statistics!
• Bias Against Women

  •Many feminists argue that the criminal justice system is biased against women and treats women who do not meet gender expectations more harshly than men.•E.g. Courts punish girls but not boys for promiscuous sexual activity.Women who do not live up to accepted standards of monogamous heterosexuality and motherhood are treated more harshly.
• Bias Against Women

  •Many feminists argue that the justice system is patriarchal and biased against women.–Double standards – girls are punished more harshly for premature or promiscuous sexual activity (Sharpe).–Women who do not conform to standards of monogamous heterosexuality and motherhood are punished more harshly (Stewart, Carlen).–Victims of sexual crimes are often disbelieved and have to prove their ‘respectability’ in order to be taken seriously (Walklate).