Gender and crime

Evidence for the chivalry thesis

- Graham and Bowling (1995) found young males were 2.33 times more likely than females to admit to having committed an offence in the previous year- whereas the official statistics show males as four times more likely to offend. - Compared with men, women are more likely to be cautioned or released on bail rather than being prosecuted. For example, Flood-Page et al found that, while only one in 11 female self-reported offenders have been cautioned or prosecuted, the figure for males was over one in seven self-reported offenders Females are more likely than males to receive a fine or a community sentences, and less likely to be sent to prison - Hood's (1992) study of over 3, 000 defendants found that women were about one third less likely to be jailed in similar cases.

Carlen's analysis of the class deals

- In terms of the class deal, the women in Carlen's study had failed to find a legitimate way of earning a decent living. This left them feeling powerless, oppressed and the victims of injustice. Most had always been in poverty; many could not get a job and had experienced problems. - Thirty-two of them had always been in poverty - Some found that qualifications gained in jail had been no help in gaining work upon release. Others had been on training courses but still could not get jobs Many had experienced problems and humiliations in trying to claim benefits They gained no rewards from this deal, so they used crime to escape poverty.

Criticism of Messerschmidt

- Is masculinity an explanation of male crime, or just a description of male offenders (e.g. tough, controlling etc)? Messerschmidt is in danger of a circular argument, that masculinity explains male crime (e.g. violence) because they are crimes committed by males (who have violent characteristics). - Messerschmidt doesn't explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity - He over-works the concept of masculinity to explain virtually all male crimes, from joy riding to embezzlement.

Messerschmidt examples of different forms of rule breaking to demonstrate masculinity

- White middle-class youths have to subordinate themselves to teachers in order to achieve middle-class status, leading to an accommodating masculinity in school. Outside school, their masculinity takes an oppositional form, for example through drinking, pranks and vandalism - White working-class youths have less chance of educational success, so their masculinity is oppositional both in and out of school. It is constructed around sexist attitudes, being tough and opposing teachers' authority. The lads in Willis study are a good example of this kind of masculinity. - Black lower working-class youths may have few expectations of a reasonable job and may use gang membership and violence to express their masculinity, or turn to serious property crime to achieve material success. Messerschmidt acknowledges that middle-class men too use crime. The difference lies in the type of crime-white middle class males commit white-collar and corporate crime to accomplish hegemonic masculinity, poorer groups may use street robbery to achieve a subordinated masculinity.

Control in public

- Women are controlled in public places by the fear of male sexual violence. For example, the Islington Crime Survey found that 54% of women avoid going out after dark for fear of being victims of crime, as against 14% of men. Heidesohn notes that media reporting of rapes helps to frighten women into staying indoors. - Female are also controlled in public by their fear of being defined as not respectable. Dress, make-up, ways of acting etc, defined as inappropriate can gain a women a 'reputation'. Women on their own may avoid going to pubs- which are sites of criminal behaviour- for fear of being regarded as sexually 'loose' or even prostitutes. For example, Sue Lees notes that in schools, boys maintain example labelling girls as 'slags' if they fail to conform to gender role expectations.

Control at home

- Women's domestic role, with its constant housework and childcare, imposes server restrictions on their time and movement and confines them to the house for long periods, reducing their opportunities to offend. - Men are able to impose this role on women, e.g. by the threat of domestic violence and through their financial power. - As Dobash and Dobash show, many violent attacks result from men's dissatisfaction with their wives' performance of domestic duties. Men also exercise control through their financial power, for example by denying women sufficient funds for leisure activities, thereby restricting their time outside the house - Daughters are also subject to patriarchal control, e.g with restrictions on going out or staying out late. Instead, they develop a 'bedroom culture', socialising at home with friends rather than in public spaces. Girl are also required to do more housework, this also restricts their opportunities to engage in deviant behaviour on the streets

A moral panic about girls

-The increase in female convictions may be due to a media-inspired moral panic about young women being 'out of control'. Sharpe (2009) found that CJS professionals were influenced by media stereotypes of violent ladettes and many believed that girls were affecting sentencing decisions. Similarlly, in the USA, Steffensmeier et al found that media driven moral panics about girls were affecting sentencing decisions. For example, Burman and Batchelor point to media depictions of young women as 'drunk and disordely, out of control and looking for fights'. - The overall effect is a self-fulfilling prophecy creates an amplification spiral: reports of girls' misbehaviour sensitive police and courts who take a tougher stance, resulting in more convictions, thus producing further negative media coverage

According to England and Wales, 2012

97% of offenders who commit sexual offences in England and Wales in 2012 were male. 72% of offenders who committed fraud and forgery were male. This means, females are more likely to commit fraud and forgery than any other type of crime.

The liberation thesis

Adler's 'liberation thesis' argues that as women become liberated from patriarchy , their offending will become similar to men. Women liberation thesis is leading to a new type of female criminal and a rise in the female crime rate. - Adler argues that changes in the structure of society have led to changes in women's offending behaviour. As patriarchal controls and discrimination have lessened and opportunities in education and work have become more equal. - As a result, women have begun to adopt traditional male roles in both legitimate (work) and illegitimate spheres (crime), and their rate of offending has rise. - Women no longer just commit traditional female crimes (e.g shoplifting, prostitution) There are more women in senior positions at work and this gives them the opportunity to commit serious white-collar crimes.

Evaluation

Both control theory and feminism tend to see women's behaviour as determined by external forces such as patriarchal controls or class and gender deals. This ignores the importance of free will and choice in offending

Hirschi's control theory

Carlen uses Hirschi's (1969) control theory to explain female crime. - Hirschi argues that humans act rationally and are controlled by being offered a 'deal': rewards in return for conforming to social norms - People commit crime if they do not believe they will get rewards, of if the rewards of crime appear greater than the risks.

Evaluation

Carlen's sample was small and possibly unrepresentative, consisting largely of serious offenders, over half of whom were in custody.

Evaluation of the liberation thesis

Criticisms of Adler include that the female crime rate started rising before the women's liberation movement began and that most female criminals are working-class and unlikely to be influenced by women's liberation. According to Chesney-Lind in the USA poor and marginalised women are more likely than liberated women to be criminal. Chesney-Lind did find evidence of women branching out into more typically male offences such as drugs. However, this is usually because of their link with prostitution- a very 'unliberated' female offence. - There is little evidence that the illegitimate opportunity structure of professionals crime has opened up to women. Laidler and Hunt found that female gang members in the USA were expected to conform to conventional gender roles in the same way as non-deviant girls. Adlers thesis does draw out attention to the importance of investigating the relationship between changes in women's position and changes in patterns of female offending. It can be argued that she overestimates both the extent to which women have become liberated and the extent to which they are now able to engage in serious crime.

Analysis

Draw an appropriate conclusion from the evidence for and against the chivalry thesis.

Application

Evidence can be used to illustrate Adler's liberation thesis. For example, - Both the overall rate of female offending and the female share of offences rose during the second half of the 20th century. For example, between the 1950s and 1990s, the female share of offences rose from one in 7 to one in 6. - Adler argues that the patterns of female crime has shifted. She cities studies showing rising female participation in crimes previously regarded as 'male', such as embezzlement and armed robbery - More recently, thre has been media talk of the growth of girls gangs, while a study by Martin Denscombre (2001) of midlands teenagers' self-images found that females were as likelymas males to engage in risk-taking behaviour and that girls were adopting more male stances, such as the desire to be in control and look hard

Messerschmidt: accomplishing masculinity

Evidence strongly suggests that most offenders are men. Messerschmidt argues that masculinity is an 'accomplishment'- something that men have to constantly work at constructing and presenting to others. In doing so, some men have more resources than others to draw upon. Hegemonic masculinity is the dominant form of masculinity and the one that most men wish to accomplish. It is defined through paid work, the ability to subordinate women (both at home and work) and heterosexuality. Subordinated masculinities. Some men, including many lower-class and ethnic minority and gay, lack the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity and so turn to crime. However, Messerschmidt notes that some middle-class men also use crime to achieve hegemonic masculinity, but that in their case it is white-collar or corporate crime.

Evidence against the chivalry thesis

Farrington and Morris (1983) found women were not sentenced more leniently for comparable offences. - Buckle and Farrington's observational study of shoplifting in a department store witnessed twice as many males shoplifting-despite the fact that this numbers of male and female offenders in the official statistics are roughly equal. This suggests women shoplifters are more likely to be prosecuted. Self-report studies show that males commit more offences. The more serious the offence, the greater the gender gap. Many male crimes do not get reported, e.g rape. Crimes of the powerful (mainly committed by men) are also under-reported

Bias against women

Feminist argue that the criminal justice system is not biased in favour of women, as the chivalry thesis claims, but biased against them. Heidersohn argues that - They argue that the criminal justice systems treats women more harshly, especially when they deviate or do not conform from gender norms of monogamous heterosexuality and motherhood. - Heindesohn (1996) notes the double standards of courts punishing girls, but not boys, for promiscous sexual activity. 'Wayward' girls can end up in care without ever having committed an offence. - Carlen (1997) found Scottish courts were much more likely to jail women whose children were in care than women whom they saw as good mothers. Girls whose parents believe them to be beyond control are ,more likely to receive custodial sentences than girls who live more conventional lives Feminists argues that these double standards exists because the criminal justice system is patriarchal. For example, Walklate (1998) argues that in rape cases it is the victim who is on trial, since she has to prove her respectability in order to have her evidence accepted. According to Adler, women who are deemed to lack respectability, such as single parents, punks and peace prostitution, find it difficult to have their testimony believed by the court.

Application

Feminists concepts from families and households, e.g dual,burden, triple shift can be applied to this.

Gender, crime and justice

Girls and women appear to commit fewer crimes than boys and men and, when they do offend, females commit different types of crimes from males. There had been an increasing interest between the relationship of masculinity and crime and some sociologists have claimed that crime is a way for some males to achieve and express their masculinity.

Females and violent crime

Recent increases in female conviction for violence suggest women are now committing more 'male' crimes. This seems to support the liberation thesis. For example, according to Hand and Dodd, between 2000 and 2008, police statistics show the number of females arrested for violence rose by an average of 17% each year. Similar trends have been noted in other countries, including Canada, Australia and the USA.

Application

Spell out the link between these 'masculine' characteristics and offending; e.g. aggression may leads to fights and a conviction for assault. What offences might risk-taking result in?

Gender patterns in crime: Heindersohn and Silverstri

They believe that gender differences are the most significant feature of recorded crime. For example: Four out of five convicted offenders in England and Wales are male. By the age of 40, 9% of females have a criminal conviction, as against 32% of males. Official statistics show that: A higher proportion of female than male offenders are convicted of property offences (except burglary). A higher propitious of male than female offenders are convicted of violence or sexual offences. Males are more likely to be repeat offenders, to have longer criminal careers and to commit more serious crimes. For example, men are about 15 times more likely to be convicted of homicide.

An overview of gender and crime

This topic includes the following subtopics: - Gender patterns in crime - Explaining female crime - Explaining male crime

Control at work

Women's behaviour at work is controlled by male supervisors and managers. Sexual harassment is widespread and helps keep women 'in their place'. Women's subordinate position at work reduces their opportunities to engage in major criminal activity at work. The 'glass ceiling' prevents women rising to senior positions where they are more opportunities for white collar crime such as fraud. As a result, they are less likely to be involved in white collar crime. In general, these patriarchal restrictions on women's lives mean they are fewer opportunities for crime. However, Heidensohn recognises that patriarchy can also push women into crime . For example, women are more likely to be poor so they may turn to prostitution or theft.

Telegraph article 'are men naturally born criminals? The prison numbers don't lie.'

Key points: - According to the International Centre for Prison Studies the global median is 4.3 percent. - According to the article, the following factors most commonly contribute to crime: a lack of education, experiencing violence or abuse as a child and financial difficulties. However, these factors affect both women and men alike. - The man up programme, which was first trialed in 2013, takes groups of man in prisons, young offenders institutions and in wider community and encourages them to explore the concepts of masculinity and identity. Safe ground, the charity behind man up, notes that through their extensive experience of working with young men in custody 'our understand is the idea of masculinity can hider personal development and growth, leading to negative outcomes'.

Application

Link Worrall's belief to interactionists idea, e.g social construction of deviance.

Application of Messerschmidt's theory

On questions about gender and crime, consider both female and male offending patterns and the debates about them.

Application

On questions about why females do commit less crime than males (rather than just appear to) focus on these explanations)

Explaining female crime

Overal, women in general do seem to have a lower rate of offending than men. How then can we explain the behaviour of those who do offend? Sociologists have put forward three explanations: sex role theory, control theory and the liberation thesis. The first explanations of gender differences in crime were biological rather than sociological. For example, Lombroso and Ferrero argue that criminality is innate, but that there very few born female criminals.Some psychological explanations have argued that biological factors such as higher levels of testosterone in males can account for gender differences in violent offending. However, sociologists take the view that social rather than biological factors are the cause of gender differences in offending.

Functionalist sex role theory

Parson's (1995) functionalist explanation focuses on genders socialisation and role models in the nuclear family to explain gender differences in crime. - Women perform the expressive role at home, including responsibility for socialisation. This gives girls an adult role model, but boys reject feminine models of behaviour that express tenderness, gentleness and emotions - Instead, boys distance themselves by engaging in 'compensatory compulsory masculinity' - risk-taking, aggression and anti-social behavior which can slip into delinquency - Men take the instrumental role, performed largely outside the home and the convectional nuclear family, so they have less of a socialisation role than females, so socialisation is more difficult for males than females. - According to A.K. Cohen, the absense of an adult male role model in the home means boys are more likely to turn to all-male street gangs as a source of masculine identity. In subcultural groups, status is earned by acts of toughtness, risk taking and delinquency. - Similarly, New right realists argue that the absence of a male role model in matrifocal lone-parent families leads to boy's delinquency and them turning to criminal street gangs a source of status and identity. Feminist theories by contrast explain gender differences in offending in terms of patriarchy. There are two main feminists approaches: control theory (Heindensohn and Carlen) and the liberation thesis (Adler).

Winlow: postmodernity, masculinity and crime

Globalisation in recent decades has led to shift from modern industrial society to a late modern or postmodern de-industrialised society. This has led to the loss of many of the traditional manual jobs through which working-class men were able to express their masculinity by hard physical labour and by providing for their families. At the same time as job opportunities in industries have declined, there has been an expansion of the service sector, including the night-time leisure economy of clubs, pubs and bars. For some young working-class men, this has provided a combination of legal employment, lucrative criminal opportunities and a means of expressing theory masculinity. One example of this is Simon Winlow's study of bouncers in Suderland in the north east of England, an are of de-industrialisation and unemployment. Working as bouncers in the pubs and clubs provided young men with both paid work and the opportunity for illegal business ventures in drugs, duty-free tobacco and alcohol and protection rackets, as well as the opportunity to demonstrate their masculinity through the use of violence. Winlow draws on Cloward and Ohlin's distiction between conflict and criminal subcultures. He notes that in modern society, there had always been a violent, conflict subculture in Suderland, in which 'hard men' earned status through their ability to use violence. However, the absence of a professional criminal subculture meant there was little opportunity for a career in organised crime.

Heindensohn: patriachal control

Heidensohn argues that women's behaviour is conformist so they commit fewer crimes than men because patriarchal society imposes greater control over women, thus reducing their opportunities to offend. Patriarchal control operates at home, in public and at work.

Analysis

Heidesohn and Carlen combine feminism and control theory. Heidensohn shows how patriarchal controls prevent women offending. Carlen shows how patriarchal society's failure to deliver the promised 'deals' (I.e. controls) to some women leads them to offend.

The crimininalisation of females

However, other evidence suggests there has been no change in women's involvement in violent crime. - In the USA, Steffensmeier and Schwartz (2009) found the increase in the official statistics from one-fifth to one-third between 1980 and 2003, this rise in official statistics was not matched by findings of victim surveys or self-report studies - Net widening. They argue that the increase is due to the justice system widening the net prosecuting females for less serious violence than previously. Chesney-Lind argues that a policy of mandatory arrests for domestic violence has led to a steep rise in the female violence statistics in the USA. Where a couple fight, both may be arrested, even though it is likely that the woman is the victim. Females previously ignored by the justice system are now being labelled as violent offenders. Sharpe and Gelsthorpe note a trend in the U.K towards prosecuting females for minor offences not involving weapons. Official statistics for female crimes are increasing. - This trend is an example of what Jock Young (2011) calls 'defining deviance up' to catch trivial offences in the net. -Worrall argues that in past girls misbehaviour was more likely to seen as a welfare issue whereas now it has been re-labelled as criminality.

Proof that women can commit horrendous crimes

In 1931, Jane Toppan confessed to 31 murders and was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Carlen's analysis of the gender deal

In terms of the gender deal for conforming to patriarchal family norms, most of the women had either not had the opportunity to make the deal, or saw few rewards and many disadvantages in family life. - some had been abused by their fathers or partners. - - Over half had spent time in care, which broke family and friendship bonds. - Those leaving or running away from care often found themselves homeless, unemployed and poor

Carlen argues that working-class women are generally led to conform through the promise of two 'deals'

The class deal. Women who work will get material rewards, with a decent standard of living. The gender deal. Patriarchal ideology promesis women who conform to the conventional domestic gender role will gain the material and emotional rewards of family life. claiming benefits. As they had gained nothing from either deal, they felt they had nothing to lose by using crime to escape from poverty.

The chivalry thesis

The idea that women are less likely to be prosecuted for their offences is known as the chivalry thesis. This argues that the criminal justice system (CJS) is more lenient to women. because its agents- police officers, judges, juries etc- are men, who are socialised to act 'chivalrously' toward women. Pollack argues that men have a protective attitude towards women, so they are unwilling to arrest, charge, prosecute or convict them. Their crimes are less likely to end up in the official statistics, giving an invalid picture that under-represents female crime.

Bodily capital

Under postmodern conditions, by contrast, an organised professional criminal subculture has emerged as a result of the new illicit business opportunities to be found in the night-time economy. In this subculture, the ability to use violence becomes not just a way of displaying masculinity, but a commodity with which to earn a living To mantain their reputation and employability, the men must use their bodily capital. For example, many of the bouncers seek to develop their physical assets by bodybuilding Winlow notes that this is not just a matter of being able to use violence and win fights, but of mantaining the sign value of their bodies, looking the part, so as to discourage competitors challenging them. In other words, the signs of masculinity becomes an important commodity in their own right. This reflects the idea than in postmodern society, signs take on reality of their own in independence of the thing they supposedly represent. Winlow's study is important because it shows how the expression of masculinity changes with the move from a modern industrial society to a postmodern, de-industrialised one. At the same time, this changes opens up new criminal opportunities for men who are able to express masculinity, by creating the conditions for the growth of an organised criminal subculture.

Carlen: class and gender deals

Using unstructured tape-recorded interviews, Carlen (1998) studied 39 working- class women who had been convicted of a range of crimes including theft, fraud, handling stolen goods, blurglary, drugs, prostitution, violence and arson. Twenty were in prison or youth custody. Carlen argues that most convicted serious female criminals are working-class.

Evaluation

Victim surveys may not show severity of victimisation. Ansara and Hinchin found women victims experienced greater violence and control.

Gender and victimisation

Victims surveys such the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) show gender differences in victimisation and in the relationship between victim and offender: Homicide victims. About 70% are male. Female victims are more likely to know their killer and in 60% of these cases, this was a partner or ex-partner. Males are most likely to be killed by a friend or acquaintance. - More men than women are victims of violence or homicide, but more women than men are victims of intimate violence - Ten times more women reported having been sexually assaulted. But only 8% of females who had experienced serious sexual assault reported it to the police. - Women have a greater fear of crime but the CSEW shows they are at less risk. However, some local surveys have found women are in fact at greater risk. Ther is also some evidence from early studies (such as Sparks et al, 1997) that female victims of violence may be more likely to refuse to be interviewed. Furthermore, victim surveys do not necessarily convey the frequency or severity of the victimisatiom.

Evaluation of the sex role theory

Walklate (2003) criticises Parsons for assuming that because women are biologically capable of bearing children, they are best suited to the expressive role. Thus, although Parsons claim to explain gender differences in crime in terms of socialisation, his explanation is based on biological assumptions about sex differences.

Do women commit more crime?

We need to question the validity of official statistics because not all crime is recorded. Two arguments have been put forward to support this view. - Female crimes are less likely to be reported; e.g. women's shoplifting is less likely to be reported than men's violence or sexual crimes. Similarly prostitution is unlikely to be reported. - Even when women's crimes are reported, they are less likely to be prosecuted.