Feminism - Crime and Deviance

• Overview 


  traditionally, crime was male stream and stats focused on male criminals and ignored women. Statistics show lower conviction rates for females - yet they tend to be victims of crime.
• Pollak - Chivalry thesis 


  Crimes predominately committed by women went unreported and undetected.CJS is thought to be male dominated. men are brought up to be chivalrous, thus usually lenient to female offenders.women are good at hiding their crimes because they are used to deceiving men in matters such as revealing pain.
• Graham and Bowling 


  study of 14-25 year olds found that 55% of makes but 35% of females admitted an offence in the last 12 months.not big of a difference as OS made out. females dont fit NOTTO. subjected to softer treatment.
• Youth lifestyles survey (2000)


  found 11% of females and 26% of males had committed a fairly serious offence in 12 months. 1 in 11 self-reported offences by women had resulted in caution or prosecution. compared to 1 in 7 males.
• Steffensmeier & Allan


  women treated more leniently by courts as judges reluctant to separate women from children and regard women as less dangerous as men.
• Heidesnohn (A03)


  women are actually treated more harshly by the CJS when they deviate from the norms of female sexuality (double standards)
• Carlen (A03)


  women are more likely to be sentenced according to the courts assessment of them, wives, mothers and daughters rather than seriousness of their crimes.
• Farrington and Morris (A03)


  sentencing of 408 convictions for theft and found that women were not sentenced any more leniently than men.
• Ann oakley


  Gender socialisation - 4 ways
• Smart & oakley


  men socialised into aggressiveness, self-seeking and individualistic behaviour that makes them more inclined to take risks and commit crimes.
• Barak et al


  Females are socialised into a culture of femininity where they are encouraged to be empathetic and compassionate to tohers. women are far less likely to act outside of the norms.
• Messerchmidt


  UK boys are socialised into a powerful hegemonic masculinity value system that stressed differences from femininity and importance of being a real man.
• Denscombe


  male type criminal behaviour by girls is now more common.
• Prison Reform Trust


  number of women in prison in England and wales has exceeded 4,000 for the first time in four and a half years.
• Stanko


  Domestic violence - of all reported violent acts 1/3 committed by men on female partners. one incident of domestic violence reported to police every minute.
• Scalter


  violence inequalities in power demonstrated through threats, verbal abuse, psychological intimidation's well as physical violence e.g. punching & kicking
• Domestic violence (A03)


  rise in males being victims of DV however it's not reported as much. toxic masculinity.
• Adler


  as women become liberated from the patriarchy, their crimes will become frequent and serious as men's. changes in the structure of society has led to changes in offending.
• Kathrine Quarmby


  number of women arrested for violence in the UK more than doubled between 1999 and 2008
• Lyotard


  women are now independent and self-reliant
• social control & opportunities (A03)


  female crime rate began in the 1950s - long before women's liberation movementmost female criminals are w/c - the group less likely to be influenced by women's liberation movement.