Gender and Crime
- Created by: ecotts
- Created on: 12-11-17 18:44
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- Gender and Crime
- Statistics
- Official statistics show that men commit more crimes then women
- Known as the gender gap/ sex- crime ratio
- In England and Wales 95% of prisoners are male, 5% are female.
- Men are 3x more likely than women to be taken to court and convicted of offences
- Heidensohn and Silvestri
- In 1867, women had been convicted for 23% of crimes
- Men are 60x more likely for sex offences with women 7x more likely then men to be the victim of sexual abuse
- Official statistics show that men commit more crimes then women
- Why do men commit more crime than women?
- Sex- Role Theory and gender socialisation
- Argues men are more likely to commit crime because of their core elements to the 'gendered role'- socialisation
- girls and boys are socialised differently
- Parsons= Child-rearing carried out by mothers, girls have a clear role model to follow that emphasis care and support
- Cohen= Boys lack a role model within the household to steer the away from crime and to give them a caring domestic role to aspire towards
- Boys look to male gangs and subcultures instead
- girls and boys are socialised differently
- Males are the breadwinner of the family, they are more independent than women
- They lack responsibility for children and housework; provides them with more opportunity to commit crimes
- Argues men are more likely to commit crime because of their core elements to the 'gendered role'- socialisation
- The assertion of masculinity
- Explains the high offending rates of men in terms of the concepts of masculinity
- Connell= If men don't conform to the feature of hegemonic masculinity they are labelled effeminate or abnormal
- Messerschmist= men turn to crime when legal ways of asserting masculinity are not open to them
- They use violence to against women and other men to assert their masculinity
- Lyng= men express masculinity through edge work (radical behaviour)
- Crime appeals to the working class and young men as it allows them to gain a status
- Labelling Theory
- Police have assumptions and stereotype people especially men as they see them as potential offenders
- The police more likely label the male behaviour as primal and press charges against them more than women
- Control Theory, Rational Choice and Opportunity
- Men dominate the public sphere (society) where crime takes place and they face fewer constraints than women such as housework and childcare
- Men have less too lose in terms of reputation as it may well benefit their reputation potentially giving them more of a status
- Sex- Role Theory and gender socialisation
- Statistics
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