A2 AQA Sociology

2. Gender Patterns in Crime
In general, most crimes seem to be committed by males.
Heidensohn says “gender differences are perhaps the most
significant feature of recorded crime”. Official statistics have
interesting findings…
 4 out of 5 convicted are males
 At 40 years old, 9% of females had convictions compared to 32%
of males
 There is a higher proportion of females than males convicted of
property offences and more males are convicted of violent/sexual
offences
 Males are most likely to repeat offend, have longer criminal
careers and commit more serious crimes

3. The 3 Important Questions
Official statistics raise 3 important questions…
 Do women really commit fewer crimes, or are the
figures invalid?
 How do we explain why those women who do offend
commit crime?
 Why do males commit more crimes than females?

4. Do Women Commit More
Crime?
Are official statistics invalid? Some sociologists argue
they underestimate the amount of female as against
main offending. Two arguments have been put forward
in support of this view…
 Typically, female crimes are less likely to be reported
 Women’s crimes are less likely to be prosecuted or
severely punished

5. The Chivalry Thesis
This thesis argues most criminal justice agents are men - who are
socialised to act in a ‘chivalrous’ (lenient) way towards women.
Pollak argues men have a protective attitude towards women so
they hate accusing, arresting or prosecuting them. Therefore,
women’s crimes are less likely to be in official statistics,
suggesting they are invalid.

6. This Theory has been
Debated…
 Graham and Bowling found although males were more likely to
offend, the difference was smaller than that recorded in the official
statistics. Males were 2.33 times more likely to admit to an offence in
the past year but the official statistics claim this figure is 4x
 Flood-Page et al found while only 1 in 11 female self-reported
offender had been cautioned/prosecuted, the figures for males were
1 in 7. This suggests women are more likely to be cautioned than
prosecuted
 The Ministry of Justice found 49% of females recorded as offending
received a caution compared to 30% of males
 Hood’s study of 3,000 defendants found women were one-third less
likely to be jailed in similar cases

7. Evidence Against the
Thesis
 Farrington and Morris’ study of sentencing of theft found
women weren’t sentenced more leniently
 Buckle and Farrington witnessed 2x more male shoplifters,
but official statistics suggest this figure is equal. Are female
shoplifters more likely to be prosecuted?
 Box concluded women who commit serious offences are not
treated more favourably. Also, the lower rate of prosecutions of
females compared with their self-reported offending may be
less as the crimes they commit are less serious. Also, they
could show more remorse and so only get a caution

8. Bias Against Women
Feminists think the criminal justice system is bias against women,
Heidensohn argues courts treats females more harshly than
males when they deviate from gender norms:
 Double standards  such as punishing females and not
males for premature/promiscuous sex
 Stewart found magistrates perceptions of female defendants’
characters were based on stereotypical gender roles. If they
don’t conform to accepted standards of monogamous
heterosexuality and motherhood, they are punished more
harshly

9. Bias Against Women
Carlen puts forward an argument that when females are jailed, it
is less for the “seriousness of their crime and more according to
the courts assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters”.
She says you are less likely to get a sentence is you live a
‘conventional life’. For example, Scottish judges are more likely to
jail women whose children are in care. These double standards
exist as the criminal justice system is patriarchal and this is
evident particularly in rape cases. Walklate argues in rape cases
it isn’t the defendant who is on trial since she has to prove her
respectability in order to have her evidence accepted. Alder says
women who are deemed to lack responsibility (e.g. single parents)
found it difficult to have their testimony believed by the courts.

10. Explaining Female Crime
Women in general commit less crime. But, how do we explain the
behaviour of those who do commit crime? Lombroso and
Ferrero argue there are very few “born female criminals”. Other
biological arguments are men have a higher testosterone level.
But, sociologists believe social factors are the cause of gender
differences in crime. There are three main explanations…
 Functionalist sex role theory
 Patriarchal control theory
 Liberation thesis

11. Sex Role theory
Parsons argues the gender difference is due to the gender roles
in the nuclear family. Women doing the expressive role gave girls
a role model but it meant boys rejected feminine models of
behaviour. Instead, they would distance themselves by engaging
in compensatory compulsive masculinity through aggression
which could slip over into delinquency.
Men play less of a socialising role so socialisation could be more
difficult for boys. Cohen says this lack of a male role model
means boys could turn to all male street gangs as a source of
masculine identity. New Right theorists believe they then commit
crime to gain status.

12. Criticisms
Walklate criticises this theory for it’s biological assumptions. She
says that Parsons assumes that Parsons assumes that because
women can bear children, they are best suited to the expressive
role. She argues this theory is ultimately based on biological
assumptions about sex differences.

13. Patriarchal Control
Heidesohn argues the most striking thing is how conformist
women’s behaviour is. This is because patriarchal society
imposes greater control over women which reduces their
opportunities to offend. Heindensohn says women are
controlled…
 At home
 In public
 At work

14. At Home
Women’s domestic role imposes severe restrictions on their time and
movement which confines them to the house for long periods of time.
This reduces their opportunities to offend. If women reject their role,
men could resort to domestic violence. Dobash and Dobash showed
many domestic violence cases are due to men not being happy with
women’s domestic duty. They a found men also control women through
their financial power, restricting their leisure time and therefore their time
outside of the house. Daughters are also subject to patriarchy. They are
less likely (than sons) to stay out late or come and go as they please.
Consequently, they develop a ‘bedroom culture’ and socialise at home
with friends and not in public. Also, the requirements for them to do
more housework means they have less opportunities to commit deviant
acts.

15. In Public
They are controlled by the fear or threat of male violence against
them. The Islington Crime survey found 54% of women avoided
going out at night in case of crime, compared to 14% of men.
Heidensohn notes that sensationalist media reporting of rapes
adds to women’s fear. The media’s distorted portrayal of rapists
frightens women into staying indoors. In addition, they are
controlled by the fear of being defined as not respectable.
Inappropriate dress (for example) could gain them a ‘reputation’.
As a result, women may avoid going in pubs (typical sites of
criminal behaviour) so as to avoid being called sexually ‘loose’.
Lees also notes that in schools, boys keep control through
sexualised verbal abuse (i.e. ‘slags’)

16. At Work
They are controlled by male supervisors and managers. Sexual
harassment keeps women ‘in their place’. Furthermore, their
subordinate position reduces their opportunities to engage in
major criminal activity at work. The ‘glass ceiling’ prevents women
from reaching senior positions so they can’t commit fraud. (You may
remember the glass ceiling from AS Education!).
However, Heidensohn also recognises patriarchy can push
women into crime. For example, poor women could resort to theft
or prostitution.

17. Patriarchal Control: Class &
Gender Deals
Carlen interviewed 39 15-46 year olds working class women who
had been convicted of a range of crimes. 20 were in custody or
prison. This firstly showed that most convicted females (of serious
offences) are working class.
Hirschi argues humans act rationally and are controlled by being
offered a ‘deal’ – rewards in return for conforming to social norms.
If rewards are greater than risks, people turn to crime.
Carlen notes working class women are offered two types of deal
 Class Deal
 Gender Deal

18. Class Deal
Women who work will be offered material rewards, with a decent
standard of living and leisure opportunities. In Carlen’s study:
 32 of the women had always been in poverty
 Qualifications gained in jail didn’t help any get a job upon
release
 Most had problems when claiming benefits
So, there is nothing to lose by resorting crime as it is the best way
to escape poverty.

19. Gender Deal
Patriarchal ideology promises women material and emotional
rewards from family life by conforming to the norms of a
conventional domestic role. Not many of the women in the study
had the opportunity to make the deal and few saw rewards in
family life.
 Some had been physically/sexual abuse
 Over half had spent time in care
 Those leaving, running away from care often ended up
homeless, unemployed or poor

20. Many women reached the conclusion that “crime was the only
route to a decent standard of living. They had nothing to lose and
everything to gain”. Carlen concludes that, for these women:
 Poverty
 Being brought up in care or an oppressive family environment
Were the two main causes of their criminality. Drugs and alcohol
contributed, but these stemmed from the two main factors.

21. Evaluation
 Heidensohn shows many patriarchal controls that stop
women from deviating. Carlen shows the failure of patriarchal
society to deliver the promised deals to some women removes
the controls which prevents them from offending.
Criticisms
 They see women’s behaviour as determined by external forces
and so ignore free will and choice
 Carlen’s sample was small and unrepresentative

22. The Liberation Thesis
Theoretically, if society becomes less patriarchal and more equal,
women’s crime rates would be similar to men’s. This thesis is put
forward by Adler. She argues as women become more liberated
from patriarchy, their crimes will become as frequent and serious
as men’s.
She believes changes in the structure of society have led to
changes in women’s behaviour. As patriarchal controls and
discrimination have lessened and opportunities in education and
work have become more equal, women have begun to adopt to
‘males’ legitimate and illegitimate activities. Therefore, they no
longer just commit typical ‘female crimes’ due to their greater self-
confidence and assertiveness and more opportunities in the

23. Evidence
 Between the 1950s-1990s, female’s share of offences rose
from 1 in 7 to 1 in 6
 Adler cites studies showing rising levels of female crime in
‘male’ regarded acts
 There has been media talk of ‘girl gangs’. Denscombe’s study
shows teenagers self-images means females are as likely as
males to engage in risk taking behaviour. Females have also
started adopting ‘male stances’; such as the desire to be in
control and look ‘hard’.

24. Criticisms
 The female crime rate began rising in the 1950s, long before
women’s liberation movement in the 1960s
 Most female criminals are working class; the group least likely
to be influenced by the liberation movement.
 Chesney-Lind found women doing ‘male’ crime was because
of their link with prostitution (an unliberated activity)
 Laidler and Hunt found female gang members in the USA
were expected to conform to gender roles too

25. However…
This thesis does draw attention to the importance of the
relationship between changes in women’s position and
female offending
But, Adler overestimates the extent to which women
have become liberated and to which they can now
engage in serious crime

26. Why Do Men Commit
Crime?
Feminists argue that non-feminist theories have
explained all crime, rather than solely male crime. Cain
says although criminologists have focused on male
criminality, they haven’t asked what it is about being
male that leads men to offend.

27. Masculinity & Crime
Messerschmidt argues that masculinity is a social construct or
‘accomplishment’ and men have to constantly work at constructing
and presenting their masculinity to others (some men have more
resources than other men to draw upon). He says different
masculinties coexist within society:
 Hegemonic masculinity: the most dominant, prestigious type. It
is defined as work in the paid labour marker, the subordination
of women, heterosexism and the driven/uncontrollable
sexuality of men
 Subordinate masculinity: men who have no desire to
accomplish the above masculinity and/or don’t have the
resources to do so

28. Masculinity and Crime
Messerschmidt sees crime and deviance as resources to accomplish
masculinity. There are different forms of rule breaking to achieve
masculinity which is dependent on class and ethnicity:
 White middle-class youths: they subordinate themselves to teachers
to get middle class status (accomodating masculinity). Outside of
school, they drink and vandalise to present their masculinity
 White working-class youths: they have less chance of educational
success so their masculinity may oppose in and out of school. It is
constructed around sexist attitudes, opposing teachers’ authority
and acting tough
 Black lower working-class youths: they have few expectations of a
reasonable job and may use gang membership and violence to
express their masculinity

29. Criticisms
 Is masculinity an explanation or description of male
crime? Messerschmidt is in danger of a circular
argument
 Not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity
 He over-works the masculinity concept to explain
virtually all male crimes

30. Postmodernity, Masculinity
& Crime
A de-industrialised society means a loss in manual jobs, which
working class men used to express their masculinity. There has
been an expansion o the service sector (pubs etc.) so working
class men have access to legal employment, lucrative criminal
opportunities and the being able to express masculinity.
Winlow conducted a study of Bouncers in Sunderland. Working
as a bouncer gave young men paid work, the opportunity for
illegal business ventures (drugs etc.) and being able to express
their masculinity through violence. He notes that in modern
society, there has always been a violent, conflict subculture in
Sunderland, in which ‘hard men’ earned status through their
violent ability. But, the absence of a professional criminal
subculture meant little opportunity for a career in organised crime.

31. Bodily Capital
Men must use their bodily capital (i.e. bouncers body build) to
maintain their reputation and employability. Winlow notes this is to
use violence, but also to be able to ‘look the part’ to discourage
competitors. In other words, the signs of masculinity become an
important commodity in their own right. This reflects the idea that
in postmodern society, signs take on a reality of their own
independent of the thing they supposedly represent.
His study shows how the expression of masculinity changes with
the shift to a postmodern, de-industriaised society which opens up
criminal opportunities.