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SOCIOLOGY
Topic 2: Social Distribution of Crime :
L2- 4 : Gender and Offending and victimisation (pt1)
Year 13: Paper 3
See the powerpoints for more depth and detail- also see Pt 2 and 3 for work on Chivalry Thesis and Masculinity and Crime
Gender differences in patterns of
offending and victimisation
1 Victims^ Men are more likely to be
victims of violent crime, women more likely to be victims of theft.
2 PNDs
Cautions and Arrests Men are around 3x more likely to be cautioned than women and around 4 x more likely to be arrested.
3 Court^ Men are 3 x more likely to be
prosecuted, convicted and sentenced than women. Women are less likely to receive a custodial sentence compared with men. Women commit more summary offences eg shoplifting and TV licence evasion than indictable offences- men commit more of the latter.
4 Prison^ Custodial sentences are longer
for males than females. More women in prison self- harm than men.
5 Offenders^ A larger proportion of women
were first-time offenders compared with men Men are more likely to reoffend but women who reoffend commit more reoffences than men.
6 CJS There is an under-
representation of women in the police and the courts but an over-representation in the MOJ and CPS.
Data is accurate : Women commit less crime than
men
1
PARSONS:
Sex Role Theory Girls brought up by mothers are given a role model for caring/gentle behaviours- boys are socialised into risk- taking and aggression- leads to acts of violence - linked to expressive and instrumental roles. Males engage in “compensatory compulsory masculinity” 2
NEW RIGHT
Socialisation: Role Models Lone parents- lack of male role models pushes boys into gang culture. 3
HEIDENSOHN:
Control Theory Women are more conformist as a result of patriarchy Control occurs ;
**- At home eg unequal division of labour
- At work-glass ceiling-lack access to top jobs and fraud.
- In public-fear or crime or reputational damage.**
Data is inaccurate: Women commit just as
much crime as men : Explaining female
offending
1 ADLER : Liberation Thesis: Women have been liberated from patriarchal controls in recent years. This created new legitimate and illegitimate opportunities for women eg fraud. Also- girls more likely to be involved in gang culture. 2 CARLEN: Class deals and gender deals: Working class women are drawn into conformity via the promise of rewards; class deal- good job and gender deal- family Some women lack these deals - eg brought up in care, poor education-and so are drawn into offending.
Evaluation of claims that women commit less crime
1 WALKLATE on PARSONS: Relies too heavily upon biological assumptions about the role of men and women 2 CRITICISM of HEIDENSOHN: Postmodernists would suggest that gender is not as fixed today Adler – Feminist- suggests that women today have much more freedom BUT supported by the work of DOBASH and DOBASH (control at home) and ONS data on the gender pay gap (Control at work)
Evaluation of ADLER and CARLEN
1
ADLER:
Strengths- Overall rate of offending andfemale share of offences has gone up. ( in 7 to 1 in 6) Denscombe (2001) Study in the Midlands – girls were just as likely as males to engage in risk-taking behaviour Weaknesses: Crime rate rose before liberation,girls on the fringes of gang culture, most female offenders are working class-not as liberated. 2
CARLEN:
Strength- her study supports the existence of the class and gender deals Weaknesses- HEIDENSOHN- women still face patriarchal controls and so don’t commit crime.
SOCIOLOGY
Topic 2: Social Distribution of Crime :
L2- 4 : Gender and Offending and victimisation (pt2)
Year 13: Paper 3
See the powerpoints for more depth and detail- also see Pt 1 and 3 for the debate on female patterns of offending and Masculinity and
Crime
CHIVALRY THESIS: OTTO POLLAK
Definition of
chivalry
Courteous behaviour, especially that of a man
towards women.
Key Idea Men have an over-protective attitude towards
women women are treated more leniently by the
CJS.
This means that women are less likely to end up in
the official statistics.
CRITICISM of CHIVALRY THESIS
Recent evidence on effectiveness of Prisons for women
- Women in prison also experience harsh conditions- they re more likely to self-harm.
- Their sentences are shorter and so don’t have time to rehabilitate before release- more likely to commit more reoffences than men if they do reoffend.
Farrington and Morris (83) 408 offences of theft in a magistrates court found that women were not sentenced more leniently for comparable offences.
Buckle and Farrington (84) observational study of shoplifting in a Dept store witnessed 2x as many males shoplifting as females. BUT female shoplifters more likely to be prosecuted than males.
Corston Report (2006) Prison sentences should be reserved only for “serious or violent female offenders ” she argued. “.. women’s jails should be replaced , over time, by “geographically dispersed small multi-functional custodial units”
MOJ : Safety in Custody (2016) Statistical bulletin on deaths, self-harm and assaults in prisons. Deaths in custody were up 30% from 2015’s figures - 11 female prisoners had apparently killed themselves, the biggest such toll in 12 years.
Under- reporting of male crimes Male crime is also under-reported. Yearnshire (97) victims of domestic abuse may suffer up to 35 assaults before reporting domestic violence.
Less serious offences Women commit less serious offences and so their lighter punishment matches the severity of the offence. Female offenders also show more remorse and so may receive a caution or reduced sentence.
Double standards Heidensohn (96) – women are treated more harshly when committing serious offences eg Myra Hindley and judged first as women then as criminals- doubly deviant- doubly damned.
SUPPORT FOR CHIVALRY THESIS
1 GRAHAM and
BOWLING
Self-Report Study evidence:
- (1995) 1721 14-25 year olds- males more likely to offend but the difference was smaller than that in the official statistics.
- Males 2.33 x more likely to admit to having committed an offence in the previous 12 months. Official statistics show males as 4x more likely to offend.
2 FLOOD-PAGE
Self-Report study evidence: Only 1 in 11 female self-reported offenders had been cautioned or prosecuted, the figure for males was over 1 in 7 self-reported offenders.
3 ROGER
HOOD (1992)
****also compare with data from Part 1 KO- ONS** Official statistics evidence:
- 3000 defendants- women were one third less likely to be jailed in similar cases.
- Females are more likely than males to be released on bail than remanded in custody.
- Females are more likely than males to receive a fine or a community sentence- less likely to be sent to prison.
- Women on average receive shorter prison sentences.
- Only 1 in 9 female offenders receive a prison sentence for shoplifting- this is 1 in 5 for men.
SOCIOLOGY
Topic 2: Social Distribution of Crime :
L2- 4 : Gender and Offending and victimisation: Men (pt3)
Year 13: Paper 3
See the powerpoints for more depth and detail- also see Pt 1 and 2 for the debate on female patterns of offending and the Chivalry Thesis MESSERSCHMIDT- Explaining why men commit more crime than women
Key idea • Masculinity is a social construct and as a result men have to go to great lengths to reconstruct and present this to others.
- Different masculinities co-exist within society but the dominant form of masculinity – hegemonic masculinity – is desired by men
- However, not every man can achieve this which leads them to be criminal / deviant.
Hegemonic Masculinity Work in the paid labour market, subordination of women, heterosexism (a difference from and a desire for women) and the driven and uncontrollable sexuality of men.
Subordinated masculinities
- These are shared by men that either have no desire to express hegemonic masculinities (gay men) or lack access to the resources to express them (lower-class and ethnic minority men.)
- Crime and deviance is then used by some men to demonstrate their masculinity
Class and Subordinated masculinities
- Middle class men will commit corporate or white- collar crime as an expression of hegemonic masculinity.
- White middle class youths- subordinate themselves to the education system – demonstrating accommodating masculinity - but outside school they may adopt an oppositional form of masculinity – drinking, smoking, vandalism.
- Working class men will commit street robbery to achieve their subordinated masculinity.
- White working class youths : Unable to perform well in education these boys will demonstrate oppositional masculinity both inside and outside school. Eg Paul Willis’ Lads (
Ethnicity and Subordinated masculinities Black working class youths: May lack job prospects and use gang membership and violence or turn to property crime to express hegemonic masculinity to others.
Evaluation of Messerschmidt
Lyng: Edgework Ignores the thrill to be gained from acting in ways that are on the edge between security and danger
Katz :seductions of crime : ignores the way in which young men drift into delinquency and the pleasure that is gained in “doing masculinity” and “doing crime”.
Jefferson this form of explanation tells us little about why it is that only a minority of young men from a given ethnic group or social class choose to accomplish masculinity by doing crime while the rest do not (adapted from Hopkins Burke (2001)
Does it explain all crime? The concept of masculinity is conveniently used to explain all crimes- does it adequately do this?
Circular argument Is Messerschmidt explaining or simply describing male offenders ie. Tough, controlling? Postmodernity, masculinity and crime-: WINLOW 1 Key idea Postmodernity has resulted in a lack of traditional manual jobs
. This means that working-class males are unable to express their masculinity through this type of work.The leisure industry and night-time bar and club culture has provided working-class males with both legal employment eg bars and criminal opportunities eg drugs as a means of expressing their masculinity. 2 WINLOW Study of bouncers in Sunderland - Bouncers were given two lucrative opportunities; paid work and an outlet for involvement in drugs, duty-free tobacco and alcohol and protection rackets. Bouncers also expressed their masculinity via use of violence. Men use bodily capital to maintain reputation and employability. Eg bodybuilding EVALUATION of Postmodernity , masculinity and crime: WINLOW 1 Strength Winlow found evidence of this is in Sunderland-where traditional industries have been in decline. 2 Weakness Lyng-Edgework: would describe this behaviour as the result of risk-taking behaviour in a postmodern society- Messerschmidt – would explain this in terms of subordinated masculinity.
SOCIOLOGY
Topic 2: Social Distribution of Crime :
L2- 4 : Gender and Offending and victimisation: Men (pt3)
Year 13: Paper 3
See the powerpoints for more depth and detail- also see Pt 1 and 2 for the debate on female patterns of offending and the Chivalry Thesis VICTIMISATION and GENDER : CSEW (2012)
Homicide victims
- 70% are male.
- In 60% of cases women are killed by their partners/ex-partners.
- Men are more likely to be killed by a friend.
Victims of violence
- Fewer women are victims compared to men.
- Women more likely to know the offender, men do not.
- Women are more likely to be victims of sexual assault (31% vs 18%)
- 10x more women report sexual assault than men.
- Only 8% of female victims of sexual assault report this to the police.
- A third of these felt the police may be unable to help. VICTIMISATION and GENDER : Conflicting evidence
Lea and Young (93) • Women are at greater risk of crime than men.
Sparks et al (77) Female victims of violence more likely to refuse an interview
Frequency of crime Surveys also don’t highlight the frequency of crimes in cases of domestic abuse.
Walby and Allen4 (2004) Women are more likely to face multiple incidents
Ansara and Hindin (2011) Women experience more severe violence and control.
