Why Do Women Appear To Commit Leas Crime Flashcards
(10 cards)
Chivalry thesis
Self report studies found that when people are asked about what crimes they’ve committed, the findings show that work are treated more leniently. Women are more likely to be cautioned rather than prosecuted. Women were also 1/3 less likely to be jailed than men’s this is due to them being seen as a wife, mother, and daughter rather than a criminal
Evidence against chivalry thesis
Farrington and Morris found that women were not sentenced more leniently in comparable offences. ‘En are twice more likely to shoplift than females yet the statistics say that it is equal. Women are masks more likely to be prosecuted for shoplifting than men’s. Women only appear to be treated more leniently because they commit less violent crimes than men and are more likely to show remorse
Functionalist sex role theory- parsons
Women perform the expressive role at home including socialisation. Girls therefore have an adult role model present but boys reject feminine role models of behaviour such as gentleness and emotion. Men perform the instrumental role and distance them self from femininity by engaging in compensatory compulsory masculinity- agressive anti social behaviour. Lack of male figures also leads to boys joining street gangs
Evaluation of functionalist sex role theory
Feminists criticise this for ignoring the role of patriarchy in creating gender differences in patterns of offending
Heidensohn patriarchal control
Women commit fewer crimes than men becuase patriarchal society imposes greater control over women, limiting their opportunity to offend. Women are controlled at home by housework and children. Controlled in public and controlled at work.
Evaluation of heidensohn patriarchal control
Patriarchy can actually push women into crime as their low status and pay may lead them to commit crimes such as theft or prostitution
Class and gender deals
The most convinced serious female criminals are WC. This is becuase humans are rational and are controlled by being offered a deal or reward for conforming to societies rules. The class deal stays that working will earn women a good standard of living. The gender deal says that women who conform to the conventional domestic role will gain rewards through family life. Most women in the study were poor snd had been abused by their fathers or partners so neither deal benefitted them causing them to commit crime
Evaluation of class and gender deals
Carlens study was small and unrepresentative consisting largely of serious offenders.
Liberation thesis
As women become liberated from the patriarchy their offending will become similar to mens. This liberation is causing a new type of female criminals and a rise in the female crime rate. Patriarchal controls and discrimination has lessened and opportunities to commit crimes such have become more equal. Women have begun to adopt traditional male roles in both legitimate and illegitimate spheres. Women no longer commit traditional female crimes
Evaluation of liberation thesis
The female crime rate has been rising since 1950 long before the women’s liberation movement which emerged in the late 1960s so there must be other reasons for the increase in women’s crime
