Gender & Crime

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Explaining the Differences in Gender and Crime

Men are more likely to be found guilty for almost every type of offence according to the ONS. Sociologists explain differences in criminal behaviour between different gender groups through the following reasons.

Official statistics

Official statistics:
- Statistics aren’t always accurate due to the dark figure of crime. Therefore the statistics that there are more men than women committing crime isn’t necessarily true.
- White collar crime is less visible, so it could be that women tend to commit this form of crime more.

Socialisation

Socialisation:
- Men and women are socialised differently.
- Men are brought up to be more aggressive whereas women are brought up to be more emotional.
- These traits make women less able to commit crime.

Opportunities to commit crime

Opportunities to commit crime:
- Some girls could have fewer opportunities to commit crimes because they have a bedroom culture.
- I.e. they stay in their bedrooms to revise rather than go out and become engaged in deviant behaviours.

Chivalry thesis (Carlen)

Chivalry thesis, Carlen:
- Formal agencies of social control such as police or the courts are sometimes seen as being more lenient to women in comparison to men as the former are seen as weak and ‘sad’ rather than ‘bad’.

Control theory (Heidensohn)

Control theory, Heidensohn states that:
- Men tend to be more in control of women.
- Women may experience the glass ceiling, i.e. an invisible barrier that hinders women from advancing in their careers based on their gender.
- This restricts them from committing certain types of crimes.
- Another reason why women tend to commit less crime is that they might be afraid that they will lose their reputation, which is hard-earned in a society that oppresses women due to their gender.

Poverty

Poverty:
- Material deprivation can make women turn to alternative ways of achieving the basics to provide for themselves or their families.

Control Theory (Heidensohn, 1985)

Heidensohn uses control theory to explain why women commit fewer crimes than men.

Control theory

Men tend to be more in control of women.
Women may experience the glass ceiling, i.e. an invisible barrier that hinders women from getting to the top based on their gender.
This restricts them from committing certain types of crimes.
Another reason why women tend to commit less crime is that they might be afraid that they will lose their reputation, which is hard-earned in a society that oppresses women due to their gender.

Heidensohn

Heidensohn is a feminist.
She argues that societies are patriarchal, i.e. male-dominated so women get fewer chances to break the law.
Women are controlled in the home, where they have to focus on housework and childcare.
Women who don’t follow the rules applied by men will be sanctioned by the male figure.

Control of daughters

Men as the main or sole breadwinner have financial power over their wives.
Daughters are more closely controlled than sons; they often have more limits place upon them by being asked to stay at home or come earlier back and they are expected to help in domestic duties.

Reputation

In public, women are controlled as they are afraid they might experience sexual abuse and because they are concerned about their behaviour bringing loss of reputation.

Separate spheres

The idea of separate spheres highlights that women should be at home, those who might try to raise concerns in public are subject to ridicule.
At work, women are under the control of men who dominate them.
They are subject to intimidation by various forms of sexual harassment.

Criticisms

Heidensohn’s critics argued she is generalising her findings to all women which is not accurate.
Also they have claimed that she isn’t always supporting her claims with strong research-based evidence.

Crime and Poverty (Carlen, 1988)

Carlen is a feminist. She studied a group of mostly working-class women aged between 15 and 46 who had been convicted of one or more crimes.

The study

Carlen is a feminist.
She studied a group of mostly working-class women aged between 15 and 46 who had been convicted of one or more crimes.
She carried out in-depth, unstructured interviews with each of the women, some of whom were in prison or youth custody at the time.

Control theory

Carlen uses control theory by assuming that people are neither naturally good nor bad but will make a rational decision to turn to crime when the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Class and gender deals

According to her, working-class women have been controlled through the promise of rewards.
They make a class deal which offers them consumer goods in return for their wage.
They make a gender deal where the breadwinner offers them psychological and material rewards in return for their love and domestic labour.
When these rewards are not available, then criminality becomes a viable alternative.

Criticisms

Her sample was relatively small (39 women) but her study supports the view that criminal behaviour becomes more likely when social control breaks down.