Using Material from Item a and Elsewhere, Assess the Value of the ‘Chivalry Thesis’ in Understanding Gender Differences in Crime.

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Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the value of the ‘chivalry thesis’ in understanding gender differences in crime. When looking at official statistics it is clear to see that there is a difference in the amount and type of crime that is committed by the two sexes. The chivalry thesis is the idea that the cause for this difference is the experience of women within the criminal justice system (CJS). The thesis argues that women are treated more leniently by criminal justice agents such as the police , magistrates and judges because men are socialised to behave in a ‘chivalrous’ way towards women. There are several differences in the amount of crime that men and women do. Men are 15 times more likely to commit homicide than women are. By the age of 40, 9% of females had a criminal conviction as opposed to 32% of males. These statistics show that there is a definite distinction in the amount of crime that is committed by the genders. Women have always been thought of as the weaker sex and Sociologists such as Heidensohn argue that men see the need to protect women. Police are more likely to caution a woman for shop lifting than they are a man. Flood-Page et al found that one in eleven female offenders had been cautioned and prosecuted in comparison to one in seven males. Women are also less likely to be prosecuted for an offence and found guilty of offences by juries. This is because women (especially when they have children) are seen first and foremost in the expressive role (mothering and caring). In these cases it can be seen that the chivalry thesis carries some weight. Men within the CJS are being protective towards women. If this was not then case then the police, judges and juries would find it easy to arrest and send women to jail. However, women are not always treated leniently by the CJS. Buckle and Farrington found that women were not

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