(they are doing it – just getting let off!) EXPLANATION KEY ARGUMENT/POINTS/ THINKERS CRITIQUE Chivalry thesis (they are doing it – just getting let off!) Police/courts are mainly men – raised to be chivalrous to women Pollack – men don’t like to accuse women Police let women off (Mott/Kalven & Zaesel) Self-report studies show more women do crime (Graham and Bowling) Flood-Page found that women who had admitted to committing crimes were less likely to be charged compared to men Women are cautioned more than men Hood found that women in court were 1/3 less likely to be imprisoned compared to men Farrington & Morris – women are not sentenced more leniently for comparable offences Buckle & Farrington – observed shoplifting – more men doing it than women (but crime stats show male /females about equal)..so more men are getting away with it Women may be treated more leniently as offences are less serious Box – women who commit serious crimes are not treated leniently Women more likely to show remorse so more likely to get a caution Heidensohn – courts treat women more harshly than men for deviating from their gender role Heidensohn – double standards = courts punish ‘wayward’ girls – promiscuous sexual activity..but not boys. Carlen – ‘women are assessed more in terms of being wives, mothers and daughters’ . Less conventional girls are punished harsher Women who are ‘stereotypical’ matching role/expectations = leniency Criminal justice system is patriarchal Smart – rape cases and judging the victim as to blame! Walklate – rape victims have to prove their respectability

(trapped and monitored) EXPLANATION KEY ARGUMENT/POINTS/ THINKERS CRITIQUE Sex role theory (socialisation) Parsons Socialisation – gender role Girls not develop deviant values Crimes = extension of roles Girls follow female role model – caring/gentle Walklate – too much biological assumption that women are gentle/maternal etc Control theory (trapped and monitored) Heidensohn (1985) Women conform – controlled by patriarchal society and reduces opportunity to offend Home – nuclear family- prison Gender expectation = housewife role Domestic violence as control if they fail (Dobash and Dobash) Men control finances – limit wives’ activities Daughters – monitored - McRobbie & Garber (bedroom culture) Public – women fear sexual violence/stay home Fear of bad reputation (Lees) – boys control girls with such judgements Women’s opportunities outside home – independence (liberation theory) Modern relationships are more equal Many couples are now dual workers More people divorce if relationship unequal More policing of domestic violence Changing role/identity of girls – ladette – less fear in public Greater sexual freedom and definitions like ‘slag’ are less potent Poverty/ Marginalisation (frustration from failed promises) Carlen (1988) Promise of reward – class/gender deal (conform to femininity = reward) W/c women – not liberated Class deal = if work – promised material rewards and decent standard of living Gender deal = material/emotional rewards – good family life if fulfil expectations If no reward – frustrated/cheated – choose crime Many w/c women in poverty (failed class deal) Gender deal failed – poor family life/abuse/ domestic violence – gave up on this path Many turned to drug/alcohol addiction/craved excitement = criminal behaviour attractive Too much focus on male control of the class/gender deal – this undermines importance of free will/choice Carlen sample was very small - unrepresentative

(changing role of women = more opportunity for women do be criminal) EXPLANATION KEY ARGUMENT/POINTS/ THINKERS CRITIQUE Liberationist Theory (changing role of women = more opportunity for women do be criminal) Changing role of women Higher paid jobs More public presence Adler Changing structure of society = increased female crime Less control of them by men More masculine roles – in work and crime Be in control/independent/look hard Greater self-confidence and assertiveness More women in white-collar jobs (fraud convictions for women have increased) Westwood Identities reconstructed – no longer traditional role Recent growth of ladette/girl gangs – risk taking behaviour (Smart/ Denscombe) Female crime rate began rising in 1950s – long before women’s liberation Most female criminals are working class – who have not been hit by women’s liberation Lind (1997) – women branching into ‘male’ crimes like drugs..but mainly due to links to prostitution (very unliberated lifestyle) Very little evidence of illegitimate opportunity structure of professional crime has opened up to women