AQA A2 Sociology: Gender and Crime
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- Created on: 05-06-16 15:02
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- Gender and Crime
- Pollack- Chivalry Thesis
- Agencies of social control (police) are lenient towards women.
- Many unreported crimes are committed by women (domestic violence)
- 2 reasons for under reporting: Women are naturally devious and the Chivalry Thesis
- Evidence to support
- 2009- 30% males and 49% of women are cautioned
- Allen: 1987- 73% women and 54% men were given a fine for indictable driving offences.
- Evidence against
- Box: self report studies in UK and USA found no clear evidence women got differential treatment.
- Double Standards?
- Hiedensohn: women treated harshly when they deviate from societal norms of female sexuality.
- Allen: Courts more likely to order a psychiatric report on women convicted of serious crimes as there must be another reason for their behaviour
- Functionalists- Sex role theory
- Parsons: socialisation explains differences in crime.
- Women have the expressive role which gives girls a role model which boys reject.
- Boys engage in compulsory masculinity- risk taking, aggression etc.
- Cohen- absence of male role model = boys more likely to turn to street gangs for a source or masculinity.
- New right- absence of male role model = boys delinquency.
- Eval- Walklate- Theory is based on biological assumptions- women bear children = best for the expressive role.
- Parsons: socialisation explains differences in crime.
- Feminists
- Adler- Liberation thesis- liberation leads to new type of female criminal.
- Differences between male and female crime is social not biological. Shown by an increase in females committing male crimes in USA.
- Women take on male social roles- women have greater representation in labour forces and male criminal world.
- Eval: Hiendensohn- most female criminals are W/C = unlikely to be touched by liberation.
- Carlen: Control theory
- Doesn't believe that liberation = increase in female crime.
- W/C women make 2 deals- class deal (receive material rewards i from work.) Gender deal (receive material and emotional rewards from husband.)
- Eval: her study is based on 39 women ( not representative) but does demonstrate what happens if these deals aren't on offer for some reason.
- Hiendenson uses control theory to explain why women committ less serious crime
- Control at home- women role = less opportunities to commit serious crimes.
- Control in public- threat of violence = control over women (domestic violence)
- Control at work- sexual harassment and hierarchy with males at the top = control
- Eval: her theory is based on generalisations with some not applying to women.
- Adler- Liberation thesis- liberation leads to new type of female criminal.
- Masulinities
- Messerschmidt
- Boys socialised into hegemonic masculine values system- advocates; respect, power, authority, objectification of women, toughness, no emotions and thrills.
- Eval: Jefferson- fails to explain why particular individuals commit certain crimes, he doesn't explain politically motivated crimes and the concept of masculinity is over used to explain different types of crime.
- Winlow- Masculinity and unemployment.
- Young males who experience long term unemployment use violence and crime to levitate boredom and gain status.
- Gangs provide people with thrills, income and security. He says that gangs have become a enterprise with crime being a career.
- Postmodernism- Katz
- Young males commit crimes for the thrill that comes from the risk of being caught.
- Lyng- crime is edge work- the uncertainty and being n the edge of being caught = thrill.
- Crime = gambling, allows unemployed men to have control.
- Messerschmidt
- Pollack- Chivalry Thesis
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