Gender, Crime and Justice

Women are most likely to commit crimes associated with material possessions e.g. theft

Men are most likely to commit crimes like sexual offences

4 / 5 offences are commited by males

By the age of 40, 9% of females have a criminal conviction. This compares to 32% of males according to Official Crime Statistics

+Quantitative data - preferred by positivists due to high reliability and representativness

-Quantitative data- lack validity, soft statistics and so they can be manipulated

- females - more likely to commit crimes such as shoplifting which are less likely to be reported due to it being a case of whether the shop would like to press charges as well as the seriousness of the theft, men more likely to commit sexual crimes which are more noticable and can be seen as a lot more 'serious'

- even when women commit crimes and they are detected/reported - they are less likely to be prosecuted or may be let off lightly due to the chivalry factor

• Heidensohn - the court treat females more harshly than males when they deviate from gender norms
• Double standards - the court will punish girls not boys for premature/promiscuos sexual activity
• Women who dont conform to accepted standards of monogamous homosexuality/motherhood are punished more harshly

FOR - chivalry thesis - women are treated better due to gender norms e.g. the primary carer acting in their favour

AGAINST - double standards means that women are seen to be 'on trial' in a sexual offence case rather than the defendant as they have to prove their respectability to have the evidence accepted due to the difficultness of proving a sexual crime has atually happened. Women are judged during these cases and can be seen to have invited this kind of behaviour through their actions/behaviour.

- women consistently get treated more liniently by the law e.g. women first time offenders are half as likely to be given a sentence of imprisonment immediatly than men

- female offenders - regarded by police as less serious threat than men and so are more likely to get cautions/warnings rather than being charged

• women are far less likely to commit serious offences than men and those that do are more likely to face more severe punishment particularly for violent crime/ sexual offences due to it violating and going against socially acceptable patterns of feminine behaviour
• sentences are influenced by the courts assessment of their characters and performance in relation to traditional roles as wife/mother, not the severity of the offence - therefore, violent women - seen as far worse as it violates norms of traditional feminine behaviour

Links to labelling and self fulfilling prophecy 

The criminal justice system and police have pre-concieved ideas about how a woman should act due to traditional norms of women being the primary carer/mother/housewife/carer - when women go against these it leads to harsher judgement of characters and larger sentences

- boys and girls socialised differently - as a result are therefore more/less likely to become deviant

- girls = more controlled - linked to bedroom culture 

- boys are encouraged to be more tough and aggressive - 'masculine culture'

Parsons - clearly defined gender roles - masculine and feminine

Cohen - male role models needed for boys or they will turn to all-male groups - subcultures

Criticism - does not consider the power men have over women and assumes biological explanation for male and female roles

SUMMARY - boys and girls are socialised differently - so more/less likely to commit crime/deviance

Women are encouraged to conform to the class and gender deals.

Class - material rewards arise from working in paid employment, enabling women to purchase things r.h. consumer goods and therefore enjoy respectable life/home

Gender - rewards that arise from fulfilling their roles in the family/home - material/emotional support from the male breadwinner

Most women accept and achieve these deals and rewards as it provides security e.g. financial and therefore dont commit crime

However, it isnt easily attainable for all women e.g. some may be in poverty, unemployment, or be in an abusive relationship - therefore may make a rational decision to commit crime which offers possibilities of benefits they cannot achieve legitimatley or through marriage e.g. money, food, consumer goods.

Looks at womens behaviour and how conformist it is. Says there are 3 types of control over women;

1) Control at home - private domestic sphere, many responsibilities expected of the women e.g. domestic labour, childcare which gives them less time and therefore less opportunity for crime, teen girls are more closely supervised (bedroom culture) by parents than boys which further reduces the chances of trouble/deviance

2) Control in public - public sphere - women are faced with controls arising from fear of sexual/physical assault/violence if they go out alone at night. The threat of a woman losing her reputation of being 'respectable' if they engage in deviance is too high e.g. through gossip which can lead to a label e.g. '****'

3) Control at work - subject to sexual harassment and supervision from male bosses - this restricts opportunities to deviate due to womens subordinate position (glass ceiling) preventing women from rising to senior positions to commit crimes such as corporate crime or white collar crime. The pressure on women to conform in the workplace as they stand to loose more.

Women = more independence than in the past - they are becoming more successful than men in both education and in some cases the labour market

Some of the traditional forms of control on women are weakening - particularly among younger women

This leads to a growing number of female criminals - changing gender roles and a rise in the ladette culture e.g. gangs, fighting, binge drinking e.g. 1957 ratio of men : women offenders - 11:1,  2008 ratio 4:1

Criticisms- 

1) most female criminals are likely to be w/c - feminists supported rights of m/c women e.g. careers and access to higher education

2) female crime rate began rising in the 1950s before womens liberation movement

logical to assume - if society becomes less patriarchal and more equal- womens crime rates will be similar to mens as patriarchal society exercises control over women to prevent them from deviance

Social construction results from moral panic over young womens behaviour e.g. media depicts girls as drunk, disorderly and out of control

Reports on girls behaviour - affecting the criminal justice system - judges, police heavily influenced by media stereotypes as they want to be seen as adressing the problem of violent ladettes many now believe girls behaviour is rapidly getting worse

Media driven moral panic - affects sentences

This can lead to self fulfilling prophecys and a deviancy amplification spiral