crime gender

• there are striking gender differences in the patterns of recorded crime. Women appear to commit fewer and different crimes than men.

  Official statistics show that 4/5 convicted offenders in the UK are men. Men are also more likely to be repeat offenders, have longer criminal careers and commit more serious crimes. EG 15 times more likely to commit homicide.
• Chivalry thesis: the criminal justice system is more inclined to let women suspects off/ less severely because men are socialised into being softer and protective over women, while being harder on men.

  The criminal justice system is more lenient with women so their crimes are less likely to end up the official statistics. research shows women are more likely to be given cautions than being prosecuted & likely to be given a shorter sentence. EG on average women get 24 months in prison for robbery while men get 34. However this is less applicable now are imprisonment rates for women are rising.
• Feminists: The CJS is biased against women, rather than in favour of them (like chivalry suggests). They argue that the court treats women more harshly than men when they deviate from gender norms.
• deviate gender roles

  1. Double standards: courts punish girls, but not boys, for premature promiscuous behaviour. An analysis of 55 youth worker records show that 7 out of 11 girls were referred to support because they were sexually active, but none of the boys were.
  2. Women who dont conform to the accepted standards of monogomous heterosexuality & motherhood are punished more harshly. When women are jailed, its less for the seriousness of their crime, but its based on the courts assessments of them as wives, mothers and daughter.

  These double standards exist because system is patriachal.
• Biological explanations stems from the belief that women are innately different from men, with a natural desire to be caring & nurturing. Neither values support crime therefore 'normal' women are unlikely to commit crime. Others claim that hormonal & menstural factors can influence a minority of women to commit crime in certain circumstances.

  • Fails to explain difs in crime rates for women in different countries/ over time
  • Lacks convincing research linking criminality and hormonal cycles.
• Liberationalist perspective: The increase of female crime is linked to their freedom from traditional roles & their acceptance into more 'masculine' roles. Shown in research into teenagers from the east midlands, which shows that females are rapidly adopting traditional male attitudes, like 'looking hard' and being in control.

  • However this theory doesnt make sense, as female crime started rising in the 1950s, long before womens liberation movement in the late 1960s.
• Heidensohn: women are less likely to commit crime because they are subjected to closer levels of social control than men in a patriachal society.

  • Control at home: women controlled through lack of time bc of their responibilty of childcare & housework. Domestic violence of men or through financial dominance as men earn more.
  • Control in public: may choose not to go in public bc fear of being raped & attacke. esp at night.
  • Control at work: most managers are male & can perform control. sexual harassment may stop females asserting themselves
• Evaluation of heidensohn:

  • Studies of Asian girls, who suffer from greater informal social controls by their family than boys, who commit extremely low rates of recorded crime.
• Carlen: Criticises liberation theory

  Working class women had not enjoyed the benefits of womens liberation, but yet had a higher criminal rate than the liberated middle class women. Carlen states many women conform because of the 'class and gender deal' (giving up freedom to gain access to consumer goods & higher society, marrying a man for the promise of security and fulfillment) so women without this have little to lose by committing crime.

  • supported by stats which show that over 60% of women in prisons have no qualifications.
• Functionalism: Link crime to socialisation, values that girls are brought up with simply dont lead to crime. Girls have a clear 'mother' modle to follow that emphasises caring & support. Therefore inadequate socialisation leads a small proportion of women into crime. supported by evidence that female offenders were much more likely to have had harsh & erratic parenting & to have ahd little praise from their parents for their achievements. By contrast, boys taught to be 'tough and rough', which has lead them into engaging in more deliquent behaviour than girls.
• Functionalism: Link crime to socialisation, values that girls are brought up with simply dont lead to crime. Girls have a clear 'mother' modle to follow that emphasises caring & support. Therefore inadequate socialisation leads a small proportion of women into crime. supported by evidence that female offenders were much more likely to have had harsh & erratic parenting & to have ahd little praise from their parents for their achievements. By contrast, boys taught to be 'tough and rough', which has lead them into engaging in more deliquent behaviour than girls.

  • Less relevant w declining roles
• Messerschmidt: Theres a highly valued 'normative masculinty' in society, which men dedicate themselves to living up to, and appears differently in different social contexts. Business men may express their power over women through their control in the workplace, while those with no power at work may express their masculinty through violence at home or on the street. Therefore the nature of achieveing masculinity (which is competive) leads to crime.

  However doesnt explain why particular men commit more crime than others, and why not all less successful men turn to crime