gender

• Sex Role theory


  Males are inadequately socialised.

  Men commit 4x more known offences than women and are more likely to be repeat offenders.

  Sutherland - Suggested that boys being taught to be 'rough & tough' contributes to delinquency.

  Parsons - Proposed that masculinity internalization in adolescence leads to more delinquent behaviour in boys. Argued that girls' upbringing in the 'expressive role' fosters caring & empathy reducing crime likelihood.
• Strengths of Sex Role theory

  Cloward and Ohlin - Proposed that in gangs, younger members learn through contact with older males that traits such as toughness & dominance are necessary in order to assert a strong masculine reputation.

  Supported by right realists who claim absent fathers in single parent families is the cause of male criminality.
• Weaknesses of Sex Role theory

  Feminism refer to focus on excessive controls placed on girls and women and how it it this that can account for women's lower involvement with the CJS.

  Sex Role theory is less relevant in today's society because of the decline of traditional gender roles and the fall in the number of traditional nuclear families
• Miller - independent subcultures with focal concerns


  Argues that the values of working class youths are independent of other social groups in society & are the result of a different socialisation process.'

  Acting out' and exaggerating the working class values that they have adopted.

  Working-class youths have developed a series of focal concerns.

  This means values that provide meaning to their lives outside of the menial jobs they may have.
• Strengths of Miller - independent subcultures with focal concerns

  Parker's study of the Liverpool gang'

  The boys aren't looking for any trouble' but should anyone think they aren't tough, or can't take their drink like men then a fight ensure.

  They work hard to maintain some freedom in their daily lives beyond the control of teachers/foremen.
• Weaknesses of Miller - independent subcultures with focal concerns


  The pattern of female offending is slowly changing =, with a growing proportion of young women becoming involved with crime.

  In 1957, men were responsible for 11x as may offences as women, in 2014 it was 3 to 1.

  'Ladette cultures' where girls are developing masculine traits are increasing.
• Chivalry theory - Pollak


  Argues that men in roles like police officers & judges are socialised to be protective towards women, leading to less likelihood of charging or prosecuting them.

  Women are also treated more leniently in court.

  Suggests women's adeptness at deceit, seen in actions like lying for material gain or infidelity, makes their crimes like poisoning or infanticide harder to detect, resulting in underrepresentation in criminal statistics.

  Women may receive more lenient sentences
• Strengths of Chivalry theory - Pollak

  Farrington & Morris -W 1983 study on Magistrates courts. In 1976, 6.6 of men & 2 of women guilty of indictable offences were imprisoned.
• Weaknesses of Chivalry theory - Pollak

  Feminists argue women are treated more harshly by the CJS, especially in rape trials for 'provocative' dresses, intoxication or not objecting at the time.

  Feminists argue that the CJS is biased against women - double deviance.

  Dobash and Dobash - Police are unlikely to arrest offenders who use violence against their wives.
• Control theory


  Heidensohn - women are controlled by the family and societal expectations throughout life - fathers in youth and husbands in adulthood.

  Working men socialise outside the home whilst working women focus on household tasks.

  Male-dominated society contributes to women committing fewer crimes than men.
• Strengths of Control theory

  Alder - Emancipation & economic opportunities for women linked to rise in female crime rate. Women's increasing social & economic parity with men leads to similar crime patterns. Decreased control by men correlates with increased female criminality.

  Girls' crimes in England and Wales rose 25% from 2004 to 2000.
• Weaknesses of Control theory

  Marginalisation thesis - women's liberation led to more job opportunities, but women are often in low-paid, part-time, insecure roles.

  This led to the creation of 'pink collar ghetto' with women facing higher economic deprivation then men.

  Merton - argues higher levels of female crime are not the result reduced home control but from strains of a capitalist economy.
• Crimes of intimacy - Domestic violence

  1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men will experience domestic violence.

  89% of violent acts resulting in injury are committed by males against their partner,

  150 people are killed by their current/former partner each year, 80% of whom are women.
• Strength of Crimes of intimacy - Domestic violence

  Dobash and Dobash - 1980 study 109 female victims interviewed, 42 living in women's refuges. 23 experienced violence before marriage, believed it would end. 77 had no prior violence, saw men's anger as seriousness, not violence. 1st violent episode often a single blow, led to routine violence seen as 'normal'.

  Walklate - argues many females victims are unable to leave due to gender power dynamics.
• Weaknesses of Crimes of intimacy - Domestic violence


  It is not just males committing these types of crime.

  There are cases of female on male domestic violence.

  More women admit to hitting their partner than vice versa.
• Crimes of intimacy - Sexual crimes


  High proportion of rap victims know their attacker - 57% of known rapes are committed by partners/acquaintances, only 8% by strangers.

  Around 75% of rapes occur in the victim/offender's home.

  Radical feminists reframe rape as a crime of male power control and domination. They critique definitions of violence as male-centred and unable to capture female experiences.
• Strengths of Crimes of intimacy - Sexual crimes

  Women make up 92% of rape victims.

  The Rape crisis line estimates 2 out of 3 rapes go unreported.

  Reasons for underreporting - Victim's reputation and respectability is scrutinized, very low conviction rates for reported rapes - 1% in 2022.
• Weaknesses of of Crimes of intimacy - Sexual crimes

  Tomas - Argues that feminists may need to reconceptualise the relationship among the male power, female economic dependency & battering.

  Dependency is not necessarily tied to greater abuse.

  A wife's economic independence may exert a greater challenge to male authority within the family, thus creating a climate in which husbands resort to battering as a means to re-establish their control.
• Doubly deviant


  Females committing crimes can be seen as a 'distortion' of their role - it goes against the stereotype of being 'feminine'.

  They have more to lose - they risk punishment and public disapproval so are at risk of being 'doubly deviant
• Strengths of Doubly deviant

  Research supports the idea that women are viewed and treated differently after prosecution.

  Lloyd - Argued that as female criminality rose during the 20th century, the justice system & media emphasised the 'unnaturalness' of women who broke the law.

  Allen - Showed that probation officers perceived female offenders as having committed two offenses - a legal crime & a social crime against femininity.
• Weaknesses of Doubly deviant

  Relies on idea that femininity = passivity and compliance, assumption of a single feminine identity is too simplistic and lacking in acceptable.

  Women offenders have diverse personalities and backgrounds - many reject traditional 'feminine' traits entirely.

  Some studies find female offenders receive more lenient treatments
• Males and victimisation


  Males are more likely to be victims of murder, street robbery, gun-relates crime, etc.

  Men are more likely to be the victim of violent crime than women - 5.3% of men and 2.9% of females.

  Men are more likely to be the victims of violent attacks by strangers in public places.
• Strengths of Males and victimisation

  Goodey - Used the phrase 'big boys don't cry' to help explain how it was young men who struggled with being victimised.

  Put plainly, to be a male victim of crime, contradicts their understanding of what is means to be male.
• Weaknesses of of Males and victimisation

  Gadd et al - Found that males' experiences of domestic violence were less frequently, less severe in terms of injuries & males less likely to identify themselves as being abused.

  The typical male and female victim of domestic violence are not the same.