AQA A2 Sociology: Gender and Crime

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  • Created by: EmK123
  • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.

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