Why Do Men Commit Crime?
- Created by: chocolateflavouredmilk
- Created on: 01-03-20 19:57
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- Why Do Men Commit Crime?
- Masculinity and Crime
- Messerschmidt argues that masculinity is a social construct and men have to constantly work at constructing and presenting it to others.
- Messerschmidt argues that different masculinities co-exist within society, but that one of these, hegemonic masculinity, is the dominant form that most men want to achieve.
- Hegemonic masculinity is defined through 'work in the paid-labour market, the subordination of women, heterosexism and the driven and uncontrollable sexuality of men'
- Messerschmiddt sees crime and deviance as resources that different men may use for accomplishing masculinity
- Class and ethnic differences among youths lead to different forms of rule breaking to demonstrate masculinity.
- White Middle-Class Youths have to subordinate themselves to teachers in order to achieve middle-class status, leading to an accommodating masculinity in school.
- White Working-Class Youths: have less chance of educational success, so their masculinity is oppositional both in and out of school, it is constructed around sexist attitudes, being tough and opposing teachers authority.
- Black Lower Working-Class Youths: may have few expectations of a reasonable job and may use gang membership and violence to express their masculinity.
- Criticisms of Messerschmidt
- Messerschmidt is in danger of a circular argument, that masculinity explains male crimes because, they are crimes committed by males.
- Messerschmidt doesn't explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity
- He over-works the concept of masculinity to explain virtually all male crimes, from joy riding to embezzlement.
- Winlow: Post modernity, Masculinity and Crime
- Globalisation has led to a shift from a modern industrial society to a late modern or postmodern de-industrialised society
- This has led to the loss of many of the traditional manual jobs through which working-class men were able to express their masculinity by hard physical labour and by providing for their families.
- At the same time as job opportunities in industry have declined, there has been an expansion of the service sector, including the night-time leisure economy of clubs, pubs and bars.
- Winlow's study of bouncers in Sunderland, an area if de-industrialisation and unemployment.
- Working as bouncers in the oubs provided young men with both paid work and the opportunity for illegal business ventures in drugs.
- Globalisation has led to a shift from a modern industrial society to a late modern or postmodern de-industrialised society
- Body Capital
- To maintain their reputation and employability, the men must use their bodily capital
- For example, many of the bouncers seek to develop their physical assets by bodybuilding
- In other words, masculinity becomes an important commodity in their own right.
- This reflects the idea that in postmodern society, signs take on a reality of their own independent of the thing they supposedly represent
- Winlow's study shows how the expression of masculinity changes with the move from a modern industrial society to postmodern, de-industrialised one.
- To maintain their reputation and employability, the men must use their bodily capital
- Masculinity and Crime
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