FEMALE CRIME. Explaining the relationships between gender and crime,
1 page PDF document.
sociologists, challenges, keywords and explanations included
crime and masculinity.
Pollack - The chivalry factor
- Female crime/offenders - lenient treatment Example: Sophie Elms - 18 years old - sentenced for 7
- Women = more criminal than men years and 10 months for sexual offences against two
○ They're treated softly by men = less likely to be charged, convicted and imprisoned children,
CHALLENGED - female criminologists - Heidensohn Compared to males such as Joe Philyaw who was
- Women treatment = more harsh, especially if they don't fit the judge's stereotype of the image of a typical sentenced for an average of 23 years.
female
- Women who are not seen by judges as good mother or interpreted as sexually promiscuous = likely to be
given prison terms.
- Unfeminine - lesbian or feminists, belong to youth groups
- Women criminals - seen as double deviants - as they seen to have transgressed not only the laws of society
but also the unwritten 'rules' of femininity
'evil women' theory - female crime = goes against female stereotypes - and through
secondary socilisation, they are policed, such as being demonised by the press and
mass media, with labels such as 'monster' and 'evil', #
-
Myra Hindley and Ian Brady - in the eyes of the public, she remains the most This is due to
notorious and hated criminal in the UK - even more than her co-defendant Brady . stereotypes and
public opinion.
Explaining why females are less criminal than males
- Feminists - Gender Role socialisation - Oakley - and social controls
- Smart 1976 - women in patriarchy society = controlled behaviour = less likely to be deviant
- Sutherland - Sex Role Theory - clear difference as genders are socialised
○ GIRLS = passive BOYS = extrovert.
- Sue Lees - females do not engage in deviant behaviour because they fear acquiring a 'bad' reputation. And
fear that boys and other girls may use verbalised sexual labels to describe their behaviour.
- Heidenshohn - The Four forms of control
○ At home - role as a mother + housewife - nurture expectation - constraints on activities e.g. 'triple shift
& dual burden' - BICA
○ In public 'reputation' & expectations men have upon women - fears of victimisation
○ At work - dual burden = wage worker& housewife
○ In social policy - welfare + benefits = reinforces women's positions as primary carers.
- Controlled through familiar ideology
○ Expected primary role = housewife + mother
○ Play key role in maintaining social order + socialising next generation and supporting husband
- Anne Oakley - labelling theory
Explanations for crimes committed by females
- Carlen - cost < benefit - women outweigh benefit especially working class women, as they have nothing to
lose as some may have no qualifications, no job, no social bonds (BICA).
- Adler - women's new economic opportunities and women's liberation from patriarchy = NEW TYPE of
females commiting offences e.g. White collar crime and violence which has traditionally been committed by
men.
-
Crime and masculinity
- Winlow - crimes committed by men have increased in last 30 years - due to changes in nature of
masculinity
- Past Working-Class men - able to be breadwinners and live up to masculinity - globalisation -
decline of manual labour
- Use 'violent ability' to become ;bouncers' - Winlow says this is a new type of masculinity
- England and Wales - 4 out of 5 men were convicted offenders
- Violence is just another way of expressing masculinity
- Mosher refers to hegemonic masculinity as 'hypermasculinity', referring to its dangerousness and
acceptance of violence. For example, a poor jobless youth may display his masculinity and
enhance his status through sexist banter, wearing gang-style clothing or by carrying a gun.
Socialisation of
males
Hegemonic - Acting tough, being aggressive and emotionally 'hard', exercising control over
masculinity other especially women,
- - - masculine value system includes the hegemonic masculinity and living on
the edge and thrill seeking, as mentioned by Lyng
Parsons - - During socilisation, children are socilisation into correct gender roles
socilisation
Parsons stated that there is no reason for women to behave delinquently as they have a readily
available female role model at home, that can teach them the typical female norms and values.
Compared to boy who have less access to their role model, so it is seen as acceptable for them to
behave in a delinquent manner as they may experience 'status anxiety' and difficulty trying to identify
with the correct sex.
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