Topic 5 - Gender, crime and justice

Appear to be mostly committed by males:
 - 4/5 convicted offenders in England + Wales male.

Among offenders, gender diffs:
 - higher proportion female than male offenders convicted of property offences (except burglary).
 - males more likely to be repeat offenders, to have longer criminal careers + to commit more serious crimes.

Do official stats give true extent of gender diffs in crime?
 - typically 'female' crime less likely to be reported eg shoplifting less likely to be noticed than violent/sexual crimes
 - even when women's crimes detected/reported, less likely to be prosecuted, or if prosecuted, more likely to be let off relatively lightly

Most CJS agents are men, socialised to act in 'chivalrous' way towards women. CJS more lenient, crimes less likely to end up in official stats - invalid picture, exaggerates extent of gender diffs in rates of offending.

Self-report studies - chivalry thesis debated, Evidence from some SR studies, Graham + Bowling (1995) found males more likely to offend, diff smaller than official stats.

Official stats - 1st sight, court stats appear some support to chivalry thesis eg 1 in 9 female offenders receive prison sentence for shoplifted, 1 in 5 males.

Buckle + Farrington (1984) observational study shoplifting in dept store, twice as many males shopliftingas females - suggests women shoplifters may be more likely to be prosecuted.

Heidensohn (1996) - courts treat females more harshly than males when deviate from gender norms. For example:
 - double standards - courts punish girls but not boys for premature or promiscious sexial activity
 - women who don't conform to accepted standards of monogamous heterosexuality + motherhood punished more harshly. Steward (2006) found magistrates' perceptions of female defendants' characters based on stereotypical gender roles.