Gender and Crime Flashcards
What do Heidensohn and Silvestri observe about crime?
Gender differences are the most significant feature of recorded crime:
=> 4/5 of convicted offenders in England and Wales are male.
=> By the age of 40, 9% of females have a criminal conviction, as opposed to 32% of males.
Among offenders, there are significant gender differences, official statistics show that:
=> A higher proportion of female than male offenders are convicted of property offences. A higher proportion of male than female
offenders are convicted of violence or sexual offences.
=> Males are more likely to be repeat offenders, to have longer criminal careers and to commit more serious crimes. Men are about
15 times more likely to be convicted of homicide.
Some sociologists/criminologists argue that official statistics underestimate the amount of female crime against male offending. What two arguments have been developed to support this view?
=> Typically ‘female’ crimes are less likely to be reported e.g. shoplifting or prostitution.
=> Even when women’s crimes are detected or reported, they are less likely to be prosecuted or, more likely to be let off relatively
lightly.
What is the ‘Chivalry Thesis’? Who uses this thesis to make arguments about gender and crime?
The ‘Chivalry Thesis’ argues that most criminal agents (police officers, magistrate and judges) are men, and men are socialized to act in a ‘chivalrous’ way towards women. Pollack argues that men have a protective attitude towards women, meaning that women’s crimes are less likely to end up in official statistics; thereby leading to a skewed/invalid picture which exaggerates the extent of gender differences in rates of offending.
What two evidences exist that support Chivalry Thesis?
Self-report studies: individuals are asked about what crimes they have committed and suggest that female offenders are treated
more leniently.
Official Statistics: Court statistics seem to support the chivalry thesis:
=> 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 community sentence, and less likely to be sent to prison.
=> Only 1/9 females receive a prison sentence for shoplifting compared to 1/5 males.
What evidence exists against the Chivalry Thesis?
=> Farrington and Morris’ study of 408 offences of theft in a magistrate’s court.
=> Buckle and Farrington’s observational study of shoplifting in a department store.
=> Self-report studies.
=> Under reporting of male crimes against women.
=> Women offenders seem more likely to show remorse, which may help to explain why they are more likely to receive a caution instead of going to court.
What did Farrington and Morris’ study of 408 offences of theft in a magistrate’s court find?
Women were not sentenced more leniently for comparable offences. Furthermore, Box’s review of British and American self-report studies also concludes that women who commit serious offences are not treated more favourably than men.
What did Buckle and Farrington’s observational study of shoplifting in a department store find?
Witnessed twice as many males shoplifting as females despite the fact that the numbers of male and female offenders in the official statistics are more or less equal; suggesting that in actuality, female shoplifters may in fact be more likely to be prosecuted than their male counterparts.
What arguments do self-report studies provide against the Chivalry Thesis?
Self-report studies provide evidence that males commit more offences than females.
E.g. young men are more likely to report binge drinking, taking illegal drugs or engaging in disorderly conduct.
What did Hales et al find in support of self-report study arguments against the Chivalry Thesis?
Males were significantly more likely to have been offenders in all major offence categories.
What did Yearnshire find that supports the criticism of the Chivalry Thesis, arguing that male crimes against women are under reported?
=> A woman typically suffers 35 assaults before reporting domestic violence.
=> Crimes of the powerful are also under represented in self-report and victim surveys, and these are more likely to be committed by men, by virtue of their more privileged position in the job market.
What do feminists argue in regards to women and the criminal justice system?
Instead of the criminal justice system being biased in favour of women, it is actually biased against women.
What does Heidensohn argue about women and courts?
The courts treat females more harshly than males when they deviate from gender norms.
What is meant by ‘Double Standards’ when talking about Bias Against women? What did Sharpe find to support this claim?
=> Courts punish girls but not boys for premature or promiscuous sexual activity.
=> In her analysis of 55 youth workers, Sharpe found that 7/11 girls were referred for support because they were sexually active, compared to 0/44 boys.
‘Women who do not conform to accepted standards of monogamous heterosexuality and motherhood are punished more harshly’. What did Stewart find to support this argument for Bias Against Women?
Magistrates’ perceptions of female defendants’ characters were based on stereotypical gender roles.
What view, similar to the Bias Against Women view, does Carlson put forward in relation to custodial sentences?
=> She argues that when women are jailed, it is less for the ‘seriousness of their crimes and more according to the court’s assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters’.
=> Girls whose parents believe them to be of beyond control are more likely to receive custodial sentences than those who lead more ‘conventional’ lives.
=> Found that Scottish judges were more likely to jail women whose children were in care than those they saw as good mothers.
