A2 * CRIME AND DEVIANCE *GENDER AND CRIME* VERY DETAILED NOTES! PART 2

Why do females appear to commit less crime than men?

There are Invisible female offenders OUT THERE IN SOCIETY!

·         80% of offenders are male - this questions why 20% of crime is practically ignored. 

·         Heidensohn criticised the male dominance of the subject and gave 4 reasons why it is so:
- Male dominance of offenders: majority are male, so it's more appropriate to study them.
- Male dominance of sociology: majority of sociology academics are male - topics of investigation reflect this. 
- Vicarious identification: men study what interests them, most often the marginal and exciting.
- Sociological theorising: male sociologists constructed the theories without thinking about them being applied to women. Traditional theories are 'gender blind'. 

Sex roles/gender socialization of women is different compared to men

·         Girls are socialised differently since gender socialsation where women are encouraged to adopt a feminine./ladylike chahaecter such as being emotional by caring for your kids and your partner/family, become less competitive, become less tough/aggressive.

• Values that they are brought up on don't lead to crime because they would view crime as a risk-taking task and are given less opportunity because  factors such as societies expectation/culture/religion ect has instilled and emphasized the importance of a women adopting to a cetain role
• Simmilar to functionalists Parsons theory : most child-rearing is carried out by mothers - girls have a clear role model that emphasises caring and support. 
• Farrington and Painter: did a longitudinal study of female offenders - noticed different patterns of socialisation. They were more likely to have had erratic parenting. 

Carlen (1988) and Heiderson(1996) Control theory and rational choice

Carlen and Heiderson use this to explain why women generally commit less crime than men.

Keiderson suggests that women and men have different social circumstances, opportunities, the socialization process and the different impacts of informal and formal social control.

This could be the reason why males are more likely to be subjected to crimes than women

……There are Invisible female offenders OUT THERE IN SOCIETY!

·         80% of offenders are male - this questions why 20% of crime is practically ignored. 

·         Heidensohn criticised the male dominance of the subject and gave 4 reasons why it is so:
- Male dominance of offenders: majority are male, so it's more appropriate to study them.
- Male dominance of sociology: majority of sociology academics are male - topics of investigation reflect this. 
- Vicarious identification: men study what interests them, most often the marginal and exciting.
- Sociological theorising: male sociologists constructed the theories without thinking about them being applied to women. Traditional theories are 'gender blind'. 

The gender and class deal

·         Carlen suggests that, after conducting a small study of w./c women who had criminal convictions, women are encouraged to conform to the class deal( women get material rewards from woking in paid employment like a family/respectable life/material goods…all those Jimmy choos you could possibly dream of)  and the gender deal (fulfilling their rewards by fulfilling their roles in the family/with material,emotional support from your man breadwinner)

·         Women accept and achieve these deals and the rewards/security arising from them and conform to them.

Hang on a minuit…not EVERY women gets the deal (it’s ripping them off)

·         A number of factors like poverty, unemployment, lack of familyor abusive partners don’t get the deal. This is why they see  and choose to commit crime, because their choice has few costs and have little to loose (bearing in mind that they have lost their jobs/family/status) even if this socially disapproved from them. 

Heiderson: The constraint of socialization

·         Suggests that women have FAR MORE to loose compare to men if they get involved in crime and deviance since they will most likely get stigmatize/shamed up by the media as exemplified by the Amanda Knox case/***** Riots in Russia

·         Carlen states that women are socialized into performing central roles as “guardians of domestic moralitiy” they will risk of social disapproval as well. It’s a “unfeminine/lady like” thing to get into therefore they will face double the jepody 

·         Suggests that women have FAR MORE to loose compare to men if they get involved in crime and deviance since they will most likely get stigmatize/shamed up by the media as exemplified by the Amanda Knox case/***** Riots in Russia

·         Carlen states that women are socialized into performing central roles as “guardians of domestic moralitiy” they will risk of social disapproval as well. It’s a “unfeminine/lady like” thing to get into therefore they will face double the jepody 

Heiderson: Social control makes women too scared to commit delinquent acts

·         -Agencies of social control work discourage people from choosing crime over conformity.

·         Heiderson suggests that there is an ideology of different spheres. Male dominate the public sphere like work/pub/clubs/streets at night where most crime is commited.

·         Women are in the private spheres of the home, protected from the dangerous/big bad spheres outside their homes and they arte faced with controls arising from the fear of physical/sexual violence if they go out alone late at night/sexual harassement from their male bosses which rstircts their opportunity to deviate. They are responcible for the domestic labour/childcare provides less opportunity for crime and even if they do, they face more serious/tougher consequences. Teen girls are most likely to be more closely supervised than their teen boys, reducing girls from getting into trouble.

·         Women face the threat of loosing their reputation of being “respectable” if they do engage in deviant acts through gossip/labels like “****”/”slapper” by males and men would lack their femiminity

·         This builds up pressure and fear in women than male to conform since they suffer from greater losses/risks than gaining anything

Basically, the chilvry theiss suggests that paternism/sexism is more part of the criminal justice system, since males dominate police courts/police stations, meaning that women are treated more leniently compared to men

Evidence:

·         The Office. Women are constantly treated more leniently by the law, with first offenders about half as likely to be given a sentence if immediate inmprosonment as their male counterparts

·         Female officers: They feel/be seen less serious threat than males, therefore thwey are most likely to benefit from th more informal approaches to their offenses, in particular minor offenses like a word of warning instead of a charge. Women are not seen more potentially cautious than males because they would commit minor offenses like shoplifting

Evidence against the chilarly thesis

THE END