Gender, crime and justice

1. Understand the main gender differences in recorded patterns of offending, 2. Understand and evaluate the debates about the treatment of men and women in the criminal justice system, 3. Evaluate explanations of the relationship between women and crime and between men and crime.

1. Striking gender differences in the patterns of recorded crime, 2. Male dominated criminology which neglects female criminality, 3. Causes of male criminality or the relationship between masculinity and crime.

 Key topics 1. Chivalry thesis, 2. Evidence against chivalry thesis, 3. Bias against women

 What is recorded crime ?  Out of every 10 crimes recorded to police how many involve male offenders?

 Gender differences are the most significant feature of recorded crime 1. 4 out of 5 convicted offenders in England and Wales are males, 2. By the age of 40, 9% of females had a criminal conviction against 32% of males,

 Do women actually commit more crime or are the figures an invalid picture of gender patterns of crime?  How can we explain why those women who do offend commit crime?  Why do males commit more crime than females?

 cfLlvU cfLlvU

One of the most common crimes committed by women is shoplifting suggest three reasons for this ?

Shoplifting is less likely to be reported Prostitution is less likely to be reported by the “seller” or the “buyer” Women are less likely to be prosecuted by the police

the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight; courage, honour, justice, and a readiness to help the weak (especially women)

 Read through each of the cards in pairs arrange them in order.  Is it an explanation of the chivalry thesis?  Is it evidence against the thesis?  What order do the paragraphs go in?  This should help you think about the way you structure essays

 Farrington and Morris (1983) – study of sentencing  Buckle and Farrington (1984) – observational study of shoplifting  Box (1981) – self report studies Which of these methods is the best one in order to get reliable data ?

 Read through the bias against women paragraph

Read through the bias against women section in your handbook and write down and mini paragraph which summarises it. You have 10 minutes to complete this task

 Key topics 1. Is the criminal justice system more lenient towards women ? 2. Is crime in women due to biological differences or the cause of social differences?

 Lombroso & Ferrero (1893)  Criminality is innate  Less female crime a very few females are ‘born criminal’  Recent biological explanations  Higher levels of testosterone

 Functionalist sex role theory  Heidensohn: Patriarchal control  Carlen: class and gender  The liberation thesis

 In pairs use the information in your text book to complete a mind map summary of the theory you are allocated.  Use colours and pictures where possible & keep words to a minimum  Using the mind maps write a short summary of each theory

What is it about ‘being male’ that leads men to offend?

 Masculinity is a social construct, accomplishment  Men have to work to constantly work to achieve and assert their masculinity  Some men have more resources to draw on to do this than others  Hegemonic Vs Subordinate masculinities

 The dominant prestigious form of masculinity Paid work Subordination of women Heterosexism – desire women

 Gay  Lower class  Ethnic minority

 Subordinate themselves to teachers in order to achieve middle class status  Accommodating masculinity in school  Oppositional form outside – drinking, vandalism

 Less chance of educational success  Their masculinity is opposed in school and out of school  Oppose teachers & hold sexes attitudes to construct their masculinity  Willis ‘lads’ study

 Few expectations of a reasonable job  Use gang membership and violence to explain their masculinity  Turn to property crime to achieve material success

...to assert their hegemonic masculinity Middle class – white collar / corporate crime Working class – street robbery = subordinate masculinity

 He does not explain why all me use crime to accomplish masculinity  He over-works (over-uses it) attempting to make it explain many widely different types of male crime  His argument is unclear; is masculinity a cause of crime or just a description of male offenders?

 Methods in context essay – experiments due last Monday  Revise for timed MiC essay in Monday’s lesson- Questionnaires  Optional Gender & Crime Question

 Differences in the socialisation of males and females can explain gender differences in crime,  Parsons (1955) gender roles in the nuclear family,  Cohen (1955)Lack of role models in males can lead to boys joining all male street gangs (subcultural theories),  New right sociologist believe that lack of role model leads to males seeking status and identity in gangs

 Walklate (2003):  2 key feminist theories: Control theory and Liberation Thesis

 Conformist (patriarchal society reduces women’s opportunity to offend): 1. Control at home (restrictions due to domestic duties) – Dobash and Dobash (1979), 2. Control in public (fear of male violence – sexual violence) – Lees (1993), 3. Control at work (women’s behaviour is controlled by males supervisors/managers – sexual harrassment)

Read through Carlen sub section and summarise the concept of class and gender deals including evaluation

 Changes in the structure of society has led to changes in offending behaviour,  Changes in the crime committed by women due to women increase of self confidence and assertiveness,  Denscombe (2001) Criticism?  Female crime has been rising since the 1950’s,  Most female criminals are working class,  Chesney – Lind (1997) and Laidler and Hunt (2001)

 Compete the last two pages of your handout on masculinity and crime using the “why do men commit crime section of your handout”.  Page 109 of your handout complete the 21 marks essay question which I will only take for marking up to Friday 28 th of November  Remember it is optional but your best way to practice writing exam questions.