women in crime: exam 2

2015 arrest rates and trends

- 26.9% of all arrests were of females - 20.3% of all violent index crime arrests (highest for aggravated assault, lowest for rape) - 38.3% of property crime arrests (highest for larceny-theft; females 43% of arrests) - between 2002-2011, female arrests increases by 5.8%, males decreased by 11%

dangers of prostitution

- 80% report being raped at some point - 80% have been victims of assault with a weapon - study found that prostitutes have a mortality rate 40 times that national average - because of drug use and abuse (and their profession), few prostitutes seek medical care until the condition becomes chronic or serious

trends in white collar crime

- forgery 35.3% - fraud 38.7% - embezzlement 50.2% - 60% of convicted female embezzlers were bank tellers - men's financial gains much larger - women more likely to work alone - women's crimes more petty - women's share of corporate white-collar crime low

drug use, abuse, and selling (trends and gender differences)

- political nature of women and drugs: war on drugs in some ways has become a war on women - studies find that women and girls face harsher societal disapproval than men - much of focus on stopping drug business has focused on people at the lower levels, disproportionately where women in the market - history of women and drugs: perceptions of drugs have changed over time - most currently illegal drugs experiences periods of legality: opium, cocaine, marijuana - many drugs only became illegal when concern was raised about women using them. example: opium - first known drug addict (and also first recorded drug death by overdose) was the wife of the person who invented injecting drugs - in 2015 females made up 22.6% of arrests - females more likely to exchange drugs for sex - while both males and females first use drugs because of curiosity, females are less likely to continues to use drugs for pleasure or thrill-seeking - females more likely to relapse after treatment gender differences in drug selling: - tougher for women to break into the market; tend to occupy the lowest levels in the drug selling market - drug selling a better indication of the feminization of poverty then increases in women using drugs

3 processing hypothesis

1. the equal treatment hypothesis: men and women are treated the same 2. the chivalry hypothesis: sex discrimination against male offenders - many early studies assumed this - far more complex - bartering system where gender inequalities are reinforced - only applies to a certain type of female: white, middle-upper class, older, comply with gender norms 3. the "evil" woman hypothesis: sex discrimination against women - girl status offenders - gynecological exams - criminalizing sexual activity - role of parent referrals - result: girls treated more harshly than boys for status offenses

context surrounding females and homicide

11.5% of arrests much more likely to kill someone they know (boyfriends, ex-busbands, etc) - however, there's still a higher percentage of men who kill their partners and ex-partners than women how do female-committed intimate partner homicides relate to male-committed ones? (females make up 10-15% of serial killers)

issues of pregnant women and drug use

1977 - 1st known indictment of an American woman for drug use during pregnancy 2003 - woman convicted of manslaughter, 10 years in prison, after infant tested positive for crack cocaine and died shortly after birth 2004 - 2nd degree murder, 15 years in prison, for still-born birth of meth-exposed baby issue of pregnant mothers who use drugs: - in 3 states substance use during pregnancy is a crime - in 16 states substance use during pregnancy is considered child abuse - in 4 states where pregnant moms use drugs have not been prosecuted - in 15 states (including UT) health care workers are required to report drugs if known - this causes women who use drugs to not seek prenatal care which could cause major problems for the health of the baby should women be charge and/or have their babies taken away? - social construction of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome? some things aren't just caused by the drugs, but caused by not seeking prenatal care, not taking vitamins, not eating well, and so on - are they less fit parents? - impact on help-seeking behavior: prenatal care?

historically how have we treated women different from men?

History of Incarcerating Women - preindustrial societies: men and women subject to same penalties - not until the 19th was it standard to incarcerate - women punished for crimes against their husbands and for violating standards of sexuality (men were not) Incarceration - until the late 19th century there were no separate prisons for males, females, and children - most of the time there were separate rooms, but women and men had the same male guards and wardens - high risk of rape for women and children by other inmates and prison guards - reforms in incarcerating women in the US came from wealthy, white women who wanted to rescue the fallen woman: remolding women prisoners to encourage "proper" gender roles and religious instruction Reformatories - cottage style - rehabilitation - continued to reflect gender stereotypes: vocational training which involved cooking, sewing, cleaning - women often released to a "good" Christian home as a domestic servant

hierarchy of prostitutes and differences between

Lowest to Highest (likeliness of arrest, danger, money) - streetwalkers (85-90% of arrests) - circuit travelers - bar prostitutes - houses of prostitution: brothels, massage parlors - escorts or call girls

how do we treat women today? institutionalized sexism

Women's Prisons Today - changed very little until the 1980s - smaller, about 1 per state - institutionalized sexism: - most likely farther from family and friends - because small number of incarcerated women, this used to justify lack of program available to women - small number used to justify lack or specialization in programs and lack of separation/classification of inmates

gender stability (definition and trends of)

any patterns where the gender rates are relatively stable over time policies put in place to "get tough on crime" affects both gender's crime rates equally

gender convergence (definition and trends of)

anytime that the gender gap is decreasing, gender crime rates approach each other

gender-related crimes versus gender neutral

crimes equally likely to be committed by either sex - embezzlement yes; larceny-theft and fraud are close VS crimes more likely to be committed by one sex - men: rape and violent crime - women: sex work and running away

trends in juvenile offending

females age of onset 14; peak 17-19 most are minor offenses without a clear victim

processing: gender neutral versus gender specific laws

gender neutral laws: written so that no differentiation is made regarding applicability to females or males gender specific: specify that they apply to only one sex or that they apply differently to both sexes - today most laws are gender neutral - historically laws have been gender specific (ex. rape laws, prostitution laws) - however, even if the law is gender neutral it does not change how it is enforced (ex. prostitution)

pros and cons of legalization of prostitution

health client prosecution

gender difference in child abuse and homicide

non-sexual offenses against children and infants: neglect, cruelty, and abandonment—may be female gender-related sexual and physical abuse—male gender-related gender differences in killing children - male-dominated child killing: older children, retaliation killings, jealousy of or rejection by the victim, discipline/abuse killings - female-dominated child killing: younger children under 1, unwanted child, altruistic killings, fatal child neglect, psychotic, Muchausen Syndrome by Proxy (rare)

trends in property offenses

property offenses of a minor nature - the increase in women's imprisonment rates were due to increases in larceny/theft convictions, as well as drug convictions - shoplifting

trends in robbery and burglary

robbery: in 2015 females 14.4% of arrests - major motivations: financial and peer pressure - most victims strangers, done without a weapon - two-thirds committed with others, 60% other women - robberies committed in the context of sex work; something has happened without agreement - two-thirds of robberies committed in the context of other crimes; usually prostitution or drugs burglary: in 2015 females 18.9% of arrests - males more likely to commit additional crimes, start committing burglary earlier, commit more - females more likely to work with others, be drug addicts, have less contact with the CJS

gender divergence (definition and trends of)

the gender gap widens over time, meaning gender differences in crime rates are increasing

gender crime comparisons

the top 10 crimes that are committed, the males and females top 10 aren't that different crimes in which females are strongly represented: - sex work 64% - running away ? - larceny/theft 43.2% - fraud 38.7% - embezzlement 50.2%

relationship of sex trafficking and prostitution

women and girls in other countries: - most notably Asian countries - hard to know actual numbers but estimated that today there's over 1 million - due to poverty, some have linked to US military presence, and to the development of the "sex tourism" trade women and girls lured from other countries under false pretenses: sex trafficking: - 1 million women and children trafficked around the world each year for the purpose of domestic servitude or sexual exploitation: estimated 50,000 to 100,000 into the US running away from home & forced/coerced into it: - most often from abuse - survival is sex, sex is survival drugs - women much more likely than men to prostitute for drugs abuse - estimates that 60-90% of prostitutes are survivors of sexual abuse lack of opportunity study found that over 90% of prostitutes wanted to stop if they could