Gender, crime and justice 2

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  • Gender, crime and justice 2
    • Heidensohn: patriarchal control
      • Argues that women commit fewer crimes than men because patriarchal society imposes greater control over women, thus reducing their opportunities to offend. This control operates at home, in public and at work.
      • At home - women's domestic role, confines them at home for long periods of time and reducing opportunities to offend.
      • Daughters are subjected to patriarchal power too e.g. restrictions on going out or staying out late.
        • They develop 'bedroom culture' socialising at home and required to do more housework which also restricts their opportunities to engage in deviant behaviour on the streets.
      • In public - fear of male sexual violence as media reporting of rapes helps frighten women into staying indoors.
      • Fear of being defined as not respectable e.g. dress, make-up etc are defined as inappropriate can gain a women a 'reputation'.
      • At work - women's subordinate position at work reduces criminal opportunities as they the 'glass ceiling' prevents women rising to senior positions where there are more opportunities for white collar crime.
      • Men are able to impose this role on women e.g. by threat of domestic violence and their financial power.
    • Carlen: class and gender deals
      • 39 w/c omen who had been convicted of a range of crimes. 20 were in prison or youth custody. Most convicted serious female criminals are w/c.
      • Sample was small and possibly under-representative, consisting largely of serious offenders, over half whom were in custody.
      • Uses Hirschi's control theory to explain female crime.
      • Huamns act rationally and are controlled by being offered a 'deal' e.g. rewards in return for conforming to norms.
      • People commit crime if they don't believe they will get the rewards or if the rewards or crime appear greater than the risks.
      • Carlen argues that w/c women are generally led to conform through the promise of two 'deals': class - decent standard of living and gender - if they conform will gain the material and emotional rewards of family life.
      • The class deal - the women in the study had failed to find a legitimate way of earning a decent living - most in poverty, could not get a job.
      • The gender deal - abused by their fathers or partners, some spent time in care, which broke family bonds.
      • Gained nothing from either deal, they had nothing to lose by using crime to escape poverty.
      • Both control theory and feminism tend to see women's behaviour as determined by external forces such as patriarchal control or class and gender deals. it ignores the importance of free will and choice in offending.
      • Adler - 'liberation thesis' - as women became liberated from patriarchy, their offending will become similar to men. heir liberation is leading to a new type of female criminal and rise in female crime rate.
      • Patriarchal controls and discrimination have lessened and opportunities have become more equal.
      • As a result, women have begun to adopt tradional male roles in both legitimate and illegitimate spheres.
      • They no longer commit female crimes e.g. prostitution, but now more women are in senior position, giving them more opportunities to commit white collar crimes.
      • Female crime rate started rising before the women's liberation movement began and that most females are w/c and unlikely to be influenced by women's liberation.
    • Why do men commit crime?
      • Messerschmidt - argues that masculinity is an accomplishment - something that men have to constantly work at constructing and presenting to others.
      • Hegemonic masculinity- dominant form of masculinity and the one that most men wish to accomplish. Defined through paid work, the ability to subordinate women and heterosexuality.
      • Messerschmidt notes that some m/c msn also use crime to achieve hegemoic masculinity, but that in thir case is white-collar or corporate crime.
      • Subordinated masculinities - some men, including many l/c and ethnic minoritiy lack the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity and so turn to crime.
  • At work - women's subordinate position at work reduces criminal opportunities as they the 'glass ceiling' prevents women rising to senior positions where there are more opportunities for white collar crime.
  • Men are able to impose this role on women e.g. by threat of domestic violence and their financial power.
  • Subordinated masculinities - some men, including many l/c and ethnic minoritiy lack the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity and so turn to crime.

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