Gender explanations of crime : female

Question 1

What is the chivalry thesis ?

Answer 1

• Pollack
• Claims that the criminal justice system are more lenient towards women who have committed crime
• men feel as if they have to act like gentlemen
• Leads to police officers letting women off with warning or charging them with less serious offences

Question 2

What do home office statistics share about women committing crime ?

Answer 2

• consistently women are treated with more leniency
• less likely to remanded in custody

Question 3

What does Chesney-lind say about the gender expectations of crime ?

Answer 3

• Female deviance is ‘sexualised’
• Women who go against gender stereotypes are demonised by the media

Question 4

What are the criticisms of the chivalry thesis ?

Answer 4

Klein = says it is racist and classist. Focuses on the white middle class women who are less likely to get into trouble with the police

Heidensohn = women show feminine behaviours such as crying and may be treated more leniently.

Carlen = Females role as a mother considered. Impact on children is looked at as well.

Question 5

What are two of the sociologists that look at the biological explanation of why women commit less crime ?

Answer 5

• Lombrose
• Thomas

Question 6

What did lombrose say about the biological explanation as to why women commit less crime ?

Answer 6

• • biological anomalies are a significant indicator
• women weren’t intelligent enough to commit crimes
• female criminals were an anomilie and they possessed more masculine characteristics

Question 7

What did Thomas say about the biological explanation as to why women commit less crime ?

Answer 7

• men and women have different personality traits
• men are more active
• women are more passive
• women seek more social approval
• this is received by participating in domestic jobs

Question 8

What is the sex-role theory as to why women commit less crime ?

Answer 8

• functionalist and new right view
• Sutherland = there are gender differences made by socialisation being different
• Parsons = women are expressive and stay at home which allows women to adopt feminine characteristics such as emotion

Question 9

What is the feminists explanation as to why women commit less crime ?

Answer 9

Smart = stricter socialisation within the family on girls , parents fear more about a daughter getting attacked than a son

Question 10

What is the control theory as to why women commit less crime ?

Answer 10

Heidensohn = Women are controlled in 4 main areas of their lives which makes them more likely to conform
1. home
2. public
3. work
4. social policy

Question 11

Why does carlen say women commit less crime ?

Answer 11

Women are encouraged to conform to the gender and class deal
Gender deal = Rewards from fulfilling roles in the family with support from the male breadwinner
Class deal = Material rewards from working in employment which allow women to become involved in consumer culture. Those who don’t work are more likely to commit crime as they have less to lose and begin to feel marginalised.

Question 12

Why is female crime increasing ?

Answer 12

Adler = liberations of females in public and private places mean there are less restrictions , women have more masculine characteristics

Denscombe = teenage girls are adopting more male values

Gelsthorpe = Increase in females in prison due to a shift away from the chivalry thesis.