Gender & Crime Flashcards
(8 cards)
Pat Carlen - Marxist Approach: The gender deal and the class deal
The class deal: the material rewards that happen when people work in paid employment, enabling woman to purchase things.
The gender deal: the rewards that woman get from fulfilling their gender role in the family and home.
How does the The gender deal and the class deal explain female criminality?
The deals were exploitative, and were often not fulfilling - working-class women were more likely to commit crimes, as a rational choice.
Class deal - women in Carlen’s study failed to find legitimate ways to earn a decent living. Most had always been in poverty and couldn’t handle benefits.
Gender deal - some had been abused by fathers/families and so family bonds had broken.
Frances Heidensohn - Control theory
Girls and women are controlled by men, leaving them with fewer opportunities to commit crime. This is known as control theory. Girls are controlled by fathers and male siblings; for example, girls have earlier curfews than their brothers.
How does the control theory link to women not committing crime?
The public sphere (most crime takes place here and it is dominated by men, hindering women from commiting crime).
The private sphere (women have to act feminine at home e.g. cooking and cleaning = little time for work).
Freda Adler - ‘ladette culture’
“ladette culture” in which girls copy male behaviour by drinking, smoking, taking drugs and offending more.
This has led to a consequential increase in behaviour that is likely to lead to arrest; drunken behaviour and the violence associated with this.
Messerschmidt - Masculinity and Crime
There are two types of masculinity:
Hegemonic masculinity: The dominant form of masculinity.
Subordinated masculinities: Refers to men who do not fit into the hegemonic masculinity and are treated as lower on the gender hierarchy.
Some men who can’t get to hegemonic masculinity turn to crime because they lack resources. For example, lower classes or ethnic minorities.
Sandra Walklate - Feminist Approach
Many reasons as to why women are now committing more crimes than before:
Freedom (of patriarchal societies and gender roles)
Tolerance towards female criminality has changed!
Financial status
Criminal justice procedures
Feminists are concerned with how women are oppressed by men (domestic violence cases)
There is a hidden deviance - domestic violence is not accurately portrayed because it happens within the home. This is predominantly portrayed by men.
Talcott Parsons - Sex role theory
Women become more emotional and less aggressive as they care for partners, children, and dependent elderly parents, so they are more afraid of committing a crime.
Men are encouraged to be tough and aggressive, therefore disposed to commit acts of violence.
