The first argument put forward to explaining female crime was by Lombroso and Ferrero. They argued that the explanation was biological, stating that criminality is innate, but due to biological differences, very few females born with this trait. Lombroso argued that criminals represented a reversion to a more primitive state, physical traits being – ears of an unusual size, a sloping forehead and asymmetry of the face. This theory of physical differences was late disproved by Charles Goring in the English Convict, 1913 who found insignificant statistical differences between non criminals and criminals.
Later, Heidensohn crafted the theory of patriarchal control, arguing women commit fewer crimes than men because the system imposes greater control over women, at home, work and in public therefore reducing their opportunities to commit crime. At home, a women’s domestic role imposes restrictions on her free time and confines her to the house for long periods of time. Daughters are not given the same
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This could be because women are evaluated as the gender, and it does not take into account personal differences. Adler’s liberation thesis seems to be outdated at this point, as the liberation seems to have passed, and still women mostly commit the same crimes and are not much freer. Heidonsohn’s idea of the patriarchal society inflicting control over women does seem much more accurate, as many points can be attested to by most females, however it is still too deterministic, and does not take into account women who do not fight back against the system, which, according to statistics, is 89% of females. Carlen’s study suffers from generalising 39 women to all criminal women, which weakens the argument substantially. Overall, the strongest argument would be Heidensohn, although a better argument would be one that takes into account personal
Classical and contemporary theory helps to explain gendered crime patterns. The feminist school of criminology argue criminology and criminal theory is very masculine, all studies into criminal behaviour, have been developed from male statistics and tested on males. Very little research is conducted into female criminality, this may be because women who commit crime are more likely to be seen as evil or mentally ill rather than criminal, this is because women are labe...
Statistically, the male population in jail/prisons are much higher than the female population. This is not necessarily because females are less inclined to criminal tendencies than males, but more because society views them more as victims and/or innocent. (Men Sentenced To Long…2012 p.2) From the time women are small until they grow up, they are told that they are fragile, kind, they should not curse, or fight, etc. There are countless sexist roles and behaviors that are pushed on women, and so society views women along side the typical view. In a statistical graph by the of Bureau of Justice Statistics states that the number of people incarcerated per 100,000 people of that sex is as follows: 126 women and 1,352 males. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010. p.1) That is an incredible difference in the number of incarcerated individuals per jail/prison. Societal view with women is becoming more level headed today, and sentencing disparity on the gender platform is coming to a more equal level; however, it is still a long way away from being equal. According to an article in the Huffington
The criminal justice system main focus has always been shifted towards male offenders and their responses to male crimes. Women and girls offending lacked attention simply because most crimes were known to be committed by males and not females. Nevertheless, towards the end of the 20th century, female incarceration tremendously took a turn for the worst, leading to more study on women/girls, women and crime offending, crimes, and the criminal justice system in regard to feminist. This increase rate of women incarceration was led in regard to “war on drugs”. It was explained that women’s and girl’s crime and deviance is trigger often by biological factors than by social or economic forces (Daly & Chesney-Lind, 1988). In the late 1960s, Bertrand
He claimed that the statistics seriously under-estimated the extent of female criminality. From an examination of official figures in a number of different countries he claimed to have identified certain crimes that are usually committed by women but are particularly likely to be unreported. Pollak went on to give reasons as to why there should be an under-recording of female crime. 1. He argues that the police, magistrates and other law enforcement officials tend to be men.
The genetic theories of crime began with Mendel’s law of inheritance and more understanding on how the genes are connected with the behaviors of various people are still evolving. When the genetic code was discovered in the
Class structure within the criminal justice system helps determine the types of crimes individuals will commit. There are 3 Theories of Class & Crime that are described to explain crime in terms of the social environment, including the family, school, peer group, workplace, community, and society. The first theory of Class & Crime is History of All Hitherto Class Struggle by Karl Marx (1968). He was influenced that the forces of production in an industrial civilization gave the simple tools for the community to change. Therefore, social conflict will eventually overthrow the production. Meaning, abused classes will run riot against their dictators. For instance, Marx considers that any one is the holder of equality, one is the subject who
Historically, criminology was significantly ‘gender-blind’ with men constituting the majority of criminal offenders, criminal justice practitioners and criminologists to understand ‘male crimes’ (Carraine, Cox, South, Fussey, Turton, Theil & Hobbs, 2012). Consequently, women’s criminality was a greatly neglected area and women were typically seen as non-criminal. Although when women did commit crimes they were medicalised and pathologised, and sent to mental institutions not prisons (Carraine et al., 2012). Although women today are treated differently to how they were in the past, women still do get treated differently in the criminal justice system. Drawing upon social control theory, this essay argues that nature and extent of discrimination
According to statistics from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, of the 455 criminals on death row in the state only 7 of them are women . This should tip us off to the manner in which we treat female criminals, even in the most pro-death penalty state in the country. Overall, women account for one in eight of people arrested for murder in America, but this ratio sinks to only one in seventy people currently on death row . This discrepancy must be a direct result of something, and is most probably attributed to society’s perception of women that place these female criminals as women first, killers second. “It’s a reflection of society’s view that women are less prone to evil than men are”, claims Jenni Gainsborough of the ACLU National Prison Project. We also seem to feel sorrier for women than we do men, and assume that if a woman has committed a crime it is because she has faced abuse in the past (usually inflicted by a man). This is true to some extent as it is claimed that 95% of women in prison were victims of abuse , but the point is that we generally stress the importance of female abuse while oftentimes neglecting abuse endured by their male counterparts.
Traditionally, there has been little research on or interest in the impact of female crime in modern society. In addition, juvenile crime rates are on the rise, which combine for a void of research or information on female juvenile offenders. In general, crime rates for women offenders have risen since the 1990's. Increasing numbers of young women are also offending at higher rates. In a 1996 U.S. Department of Justice Report, the number of arrests of young women had doubled between 1989 and 1993. Twenty percent of all juvenile arrests were committed by girls, an increase of 87 percent. However, according to The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, males are far more likely to admit to criminal involvement than are females. For example, 12 percent of males and 4 percent of females reported carrying a hidden weapon other than a pocketknife in the past year (Wilson, p.150). There are several theories for this rise in crime proposed by modern feminists, including that the introduction of women into traditional male roles prompted women to commit increasingly dangerous and violent crimes. However, this paper will rely on Meda Chesney-Lind's theories from The Female Offender.
While all feminist theorists share a common focus on gender inequality, there are differing views on the source of the problem and the ultimate solution. Liberal Feminists Freda Adler and Rita argued that sociological factors, not physiology, best explain women’s criminality. There is a strong relationship between women’s emancipation and the increase in female crime rates. As women become more liberated and become more involved in full time jobs, they are more likely to engage in the types of crime that men commit. Thrasher, a leading exponent of the social disorganization perspective, felt that girls and women committed less crime because they were more closely supervised by boys and men. These arguments lacked any factual support.
Ceasare Lombroso is one of the first scholars that developed ideas to explain the reasons why some people behaved more deviant than others or committed crimes. Lombroso conducted research on several prisoners measuring facial features and skull size. He later published a book called “the criminal man in 1876” (Dwyer, 2001 p.15). Lombroso believed that there was two different types of human beings, those who had evolved properly and another which did not. They were more primitive an...
ause of the devastating impact of prison and are more likely to suffer homelessness, family problems and trouble at school ( prison reform trust), one would argue that women are treated more harshly than men by the criminal justice system, a large proportion of women offenders do not necessarily pose a risk
Theories that are based on biological Factors and criminal behavior have always been slightly ludicrous to me. Biological theories place an excessive emphasis on the idea that individuals are “born badly” with little regard to the many other factors that play a part in this behavior. Criminal behavior may be learned throughout one’s life, but there is not sufficient evidence that proves crime is an inherited trait. In the Born to Be Bad article, Lanier describes the early belief of biological theories as distinctive predispositions that under particular conditions will cause an individual to commit criminal acts. (Lanier, p. 92) Biological criminologists are expected to study the “criminal” rather than the act itself. This goes as far as studying physical features, such as body type, eyes, and the shape or size of one’s head. “Since criminals were less developed, Lombroso felt they could be identified by physical stigmata, or visible physical abnormalities…characteristics as asymmetry of the face; supernumerary nipples, toes, or fingers; enormous jaws; handle-shaped or sensible ears; insensibility to pain; acute sight; and so on.” (Lanier. P. 94). It baffles me that physical features were ever considered a reliable explanation to criminal behavior. To compare one’s features to criminal behavior is not only stereotypical, but also highly unreliable.
The first theory to be explored is the hereditary theory, which stems from Cesare Lombroso (1876) father of criminology, (Feldman, 1993) whose studies were carried out by morphology. Lombroso tried to show a relationship between criminal behaviour and physical characteristics. Lombrosco suggested that an individual was predisposed to becoming a criminal, as a result of internal or innate characteristics, rather than environmental factors.
Males develop an alpha male complex, while women settle into the role of damsels in the distress. Furthermore, “Rigid gender role stereotypes have been found in adolescents who report dating violence, and young men who endorse rape-tolerant views are more likely to hold traditional gender role stereotypes, particularly depicting women as inferior and men as in charge.” (Modifying Gender Role Stereotypes in Children. 2011) This hinders us as a society, because it causes many inequalities. If woman stays home to take care of children, she is seen as a good mother, but if a father were to stay home with his children, he would be ridiculed and considered a failure and lazy. Also, another example being, if a mother goes to work and wants to progress in her career, she is seen as selfish. This type of development doesn’t happen overnight besides parental influence, it is everywhere around us; toys, clothing, magazines, and