Assess Sociological Explanations for Gender Differences in Crime and Deviance Official crime statistics show that men much more likely to commit crimes than women and there is also a difference in the types of crimes each gender is more likely to commit – women committing shoplifting and men committing more violent crimes. There have been numerous different explanations for gender differences in crime including the chivalry thesis, sex role theory, control theory, and the liberation thesis. However, the official crime statistics are largely questioned by sociologists because it has been argued that they only show the criminal justice system’s view that men are more likely to commit the crimes and therefore they look more for male criminals rather than female ones. The chivalry thesis argue that these official statistics are unrepresentative due to the fact that most of the criminal justice agents – such as police officers, judges or magistrates – are men and they are more likely to treat women in a chivalrous way and therefore be more likely to convict men than women. The main idea of the chivalry thesis is this prospect that men are socialised to act in a way more chivalrous – or gentlemanly – toward women so they end up convicting men more than women.
Fear of Crime and the Mass Media Lisa Strickland Victims of the Justice System CJUS 435 Caron Jacobson October 16, 2011 The fear of crime is defined as an anticipation of victimization, rather than fear of an actual victimization. Characteristics exist in people that prompt them to fear, some attributes play a substantial role when determining one level of fear. Gender is the strongest predictor of fear. Women have a greater fear of crime than men. Women’s fear comes mostly from their vulnerability to sexual aggression; women are ten times more likely to be sexually assaulted than are men (Crowell & Burgess, 1996).
Sociologist Otto Polack (1950) believes that official crime statistics are very misleading and females are just as likely to commit crimes as males are, however, these incidents simply go unreported. He put forward two arguments for this. The first being that law enforcement agencies are often male dominated who are often brought up to be chivalrous and gentlemanly, meaning they are more lenient on women who conduct crimes. The second being that women are very adept to hiding their crimes due to certain biological factors which makes them particularly good at deceiving and misleading men, such as faking pleasure during sexual intercourse. As in Pollack’s opinion, women are better at acting innocent and playing on their gender as a way of getting out of a conviction or an arrest, this means that although their crime has been committed, it will not be reported, meaning it will not then be put forward as part of the statistics, making them inaccurate.
In this essay I am going to be assessing the patterns of crime committed by males and females, I will be looking into explanation of female conformity, explanations of female crime and male crime and finally if the law is sexist i.e. does chivalry exist. Official statistics claim that gender is a very important factor contributing towards crime as they show that women are less like to commit criminal behaviour or put in prison then men, this is supported by the fact that 80% of offenders are male, this can be due to many factors such as the biology in men which may lead to increased violence and stereotypes that may affect crimes reported, I will later assess these issues. Males are also more likely to reoffend and be serious sex offenders. However we must be aware that these official statistics are not accurate due to the selective law enforcement, where men are targeted more often as they fit the stereotype of a criminal which leads onto the chivalry factor where men have protective attitudes towards women.
Why are female murderers represented so differently to men in broadcast fiction and news media? Female murderers are seen as more extraordinary and deviant than their male counterpart. Assumptions about gender roles and the ‘correct’ behaviour for men and women are reflected in how the media report crime and criminals, it is reflected in their use of stereotypical views of women. Bronwyn Taylor in (Marsh and Melville, 2010) researched how crime was reported in the print media and found significant differences between male and female criminals in the way their crimes were reported, the crimes themselves and the seriousness of them. Where females were the offenders, the emotional and irrational nature of the crime were outlined whereas for males the violence was made to seem ‘normal.’ Words such as ‘unnatural’ ‘unfeminine’ and ‘sadistic’ are boldly written in newspaper headlines when describing crimes committed by females, their appearances and lifestyles, unlike their male counterparts, are also of major interest.
This concept applies both to criminal acts of deviance and non-criminal acts that members of a group view as unethical, immoral, peculiar, sick or otherwise outside the bounds of respectability”. This enables us to have a greater understanding of what deviance itself is and what it relates to, however it does not take into account gender differences within deviant behaviour. This is significant as there are great differences with regards to gender when looking into delinquency. Heidensohn states “Sex differences are so sustained and marked as to be, perhaps, the most significant feature of recorded crime” (Heidensohn 1996:11) It is known commonly that male crime rates are significantly higher than female crime rates. One in four men are convicted of an offence by the time they reach 25 and a total of two thirds of all male offenders are under 30 years old (Families, Children and crime, edited by Anna Coote).
Traffickers use several means to prevent victims from escaping. These may range from physical restraint in the form of locks and guards, physical or psychological violence, drugging or by instilling a fear of the police, making the victims believe that they are the offenders. The trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation results in a negative impact on the health and well being of the victims, which could be long term and ultimately life-threatening. Human trafficking prevents victims from attaining physical, mental and social well-being. During the process of being
I have concluded that substance abuse is a huge contributor to crimes being committed. The lack or decrease in moral intuition and character can cause a person to make bad decisions. This would cause people not to understand the benefits of to abiding to common social values. A person demographics can also play a role in determining whether or not an individual will turn to a life of crime. Government officials, politicians, and courts employees have concluded that individuals commit crimes for private alternatives and they should be punished and held responsible for their actions and conduct.
Offenders who are convicted of sex crimes are often considered some of the most dangerous to society, thus deemed in need of constant monitoring and surveillance when in the community. When dealing with issues regarding invasion of privacy, such as surveillance of sex offenders, it is important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of implementing such a tactic. Although surveillance may not be beneficial in all scenarios, in relation to sex offenders, it is in the best interest of society to perform such a method. The term “sex offender” may generally be categorized in a variation of ways among society. For scholars Simon Cole and Jonathon Simon, the term “sex
TV news creates a false picture of a country under attack by rampaging criminals, and especially nonwhite criminals. The people who watch the most TV news, Americans older than 50, also happen to be the group most likely to own a gun. Only one-fifth of young Americans own a gun; one-third of over-50 Americans do. Republicans are twice as likely to own a gun as Democrats. Maybe not so coincidentally, Republicans are more likely to watch the scariest news channel of them all: Fox.