GENDER ISSUES AND CRIME

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GENDER ISSUES AND CRIME
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EXPLAINING FEMALE CRIME

• We know that men commit most crimes, therefore
  sociologists have tended to concentrate on the
  links between masculinity and crime.
• There are exceptions to this however and we will
  look at approaches to explaining the relationship
  between women and offending.

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BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

• Normal women are caring and nurturing.
• Normal women do not have the values that
  support crime.
• Hormonal or menstrual factors can influence a
  minority of women to commit crime.

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SEX-ROLE THEORY

• This argues that there are core elements of the
  female role that limit their ability to commit
  crime.

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SOCIALISATION

• Values that girls are brought up to hold do not
  lead to crime.
• Talcott Parsons girls have a clear role-model
  their mother - to follow that emphasises care and
  support.

6
SOCIAL CONTROL

• Women have a closer level of supervision that
  they are subjected to at home in childhood.
• This continues in adult life.
• The role of women is more constrained than that
  of men.

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LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES

• The narrower range of roles that women are
  allowed to have limits their opportunities to
  commit crime.
• They are more confined by their socialisation and
  social control than men.

8
TRANSGRESSION

• Feminist sociologists disliked these
  explanations.
• Carol Smart developed transgressive criminology
  going beyond the boundaries of sociology and
  introducing newer and fresher ways of thinking.

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EXAMPLES

• Women staying in at night for fear of becoming
  victims.
• Domestic violence.
• How women get treated by the law in cases of rape
  and harassment.

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NORMATIVE MASCULINITY

• Bob Connell (1995) there are different forms of
  masculinity.
• Normative masculinity (Messerschmidt, 1993) is
  the socially approved notion of a real man.
• Defined through difference from and desire for
  women.
• Something that is accomplished.
• Less powerful men may attempt to achieve
  normative masculinity through crime.

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SEDUCTIONS OF CRIME

• Katz (1988).
• Crime is rarely studied from the point of view of
  enjoyment.
• It provides a sneaky thrill (shoplifting) or
  righteousness (murder).
• It can provide a sense of identity and belonging
  for some young males.

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EDGEWORK

• Lyng.
• Edgework means the thrill that is gained from
  acting in ways that are on the edge between
  security and danger.
• Young men are proving their masculinity and
  showing they have control over their lives.
• Linked to Katz.

13
FEMALE CHANGE?

• Recent studies (eg Denscombe, 2001) show women
  engaging in more risk-taking behaviour.
• Females adopting traditional male values
  looking hard, being in control taking risks.
• Female crime levels rising more quickly in
  numbers and seriousness of crimes committed.
• Female identity is not fixed it is fluid.