The Influence of Feminism on Criminology: Gender's Impact on Criminal Theory and Practice, Slides of Criminology

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The Impact of Feminism on

Criminology

Understanding Criminology

Dan Ellingworth

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Lecture Outline

• The dimensions of feminism
• The critique of „malestream‟ criminology
• The development of criminological theory
• The impact of feminism on:-
  • Criminological theory
  • Criminal Justice Practice

Liberal Feminism

• Moderate: gradual change in the balance of economic, political and social power
• Women and men are subject to different opportunities, both legitimate and criminal
• Inequality due to un-equal opportunities: equality can be gained by legislation, and ensuring the equality of legal rights
• Adler: “female emancipation” thesis
• Aim: to increase women‟s representation in the CJS and in academic criminology

Radical feminism

• Central concept: patriarchy – the system by which men systematically benefit from the oppression of women
• Key institutions of oppression of women: the family; the male control of reproduction and sexuality; pornography; sexual crime and domestic violence
• Criminology may represent an institution of oppression of women - Carol Smart questions the implicit assumption of criminology that women‟s experience as in reference to men‟s

Shared Concerns regarding

Criminology

• Criminology‟s gender blindness

“Our knowledge is still in its infancy. In comparison with the massive documentation on all aspects of male delinquency and criminality, the amount of work carried out on the area of women and crime is extremely limited” Carol Smart (1977) Women, Crime and Criminology

Shared Concerns regarding

Criminology

• The „Generalisability‟ Problem
  • Can theories that explain male deviance also be used to explain female deviance?
• Widening the net
  • Considering areas not previously considered to be within the realm of criminology
• Political Campaigns

Over 20:1 Sexual Offences (74:1) Burglary (24:1) Over 5:1 Motoring Offences (19:1) Robbery (12.75: 1) Criminal Damage (10:1) Drugs Offences (9.3:1) Violence against the person (5.3:1) Under 5:1 Fraud and Forgery (2.8:1) Robbery (2.7:1) Theft and handling stolen good (2.6:1) Women in majority

TV licence evasion 0.5: Prostitution 0.01:

Ratio of male to female offenders found guilty:

selected offences

Source: Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System 2004/05 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/s95women0405.pdf

Explanations for „gender gap‟

1. Biological: women are naturally less criminal than men (Lombroso)
2. Masked Crime: women‟s routine activities allow them greater opportunities for concealing crime (Pollak)
3. Control: girls and young women are subject to more control than boys and young men
4. Gender and Strain: women‟s maternal roles lessen the impact of economic status deprivation
5. Chivalry: Police and Courts deal with women more leniently: evidence patchy

Feminist critique of

“Malestream” Criminology

• Women‟s Offending seen as
  • Essentialist: gender differences in offending must result from basic differences between sexes
  • Biological / Sexualised
    • The explanations for female criminality remain wedded to biological positivism
  • Doubly Deviant
• Women‟s Victimisation ignored

Questions posed for Criminological

theory

• Why is there a gender-gap in offending

patterns?

• Why does it seem to be reducing?
• Do women experience different levels of

criminogenic conditions, or do they react to

them differently?

Agnew & GST

• Why are men more delinquent?
  • Do men experience more strain? No
  • Do they experience different strains? Possibly: may be becoming more similar
  • Do men react differently to strain? Probably

Situation Reaction Response

Men Work/Status Strain Fairness of Outcome

Anger; need to rectify; moral outrage

Crime

Women Personal Strain Fairness of Procedure

Sadness; Depression; Fear; anxiety

Self-destructive deviance eg. Eating disorders; drug use

John Hagan: Power-Control Theory

Different Work Patterns For Mothers and Fathers Different Levels of Gender authority in workplace and

power in the home

Different Parenting styles For boys and girls

Gendered Patterns of Risk Different Patterns ofDelinquency amongst boys and girls

Changes over time have seen these gender distinctions reduce

“Free-floating” patriarchal Ideologies of control

Prevalence of violent crime victimisation,

by gender and age (BCS 2000)

Little evidence from the British Crime Survey that women are more likely to suffer personal crime

BUT, this is a relatively narrow definition of personal crime

Age Male Female

All ages 5.0% 3.0%

16-24 18.8% 8.7%

“Gendered Crime”

• More recent focus has fallen on the limitations of

a focus on “conventional crime”

• Part of critical criminology‟s impact:
  • Reluctance to accept definitions of crime
  • Critical of police and CJS practice (and existing criminology)
  • Sceptical of recorded statistics (esp. police recorded figures)