Sexual orientation is the focal issue regarding the feminist theories of crime. These theories try to clarify the insufficiency of criminological theories with respect to focusing on women and how the speculations apply to clarifying female criminal conduct. One hypothesis incorporated into the feminist theories of crime is John Hagan’s power-control theory. The production of this theory comes from the women’s liberation movement. All the more critically, the impact that women’s expanded entrance into the workforce had on the gender gap in crime rates (Akers & Sellers, 2009). The power-control theory sets out to clarify the gender contrasts in delinquency focused around the strategic maneuver going on in the family structure, and the parental …show more content…
According to Bair, Boehner, Hadjar, and Hagan (2007), the amended hypothesis expresses the connections between force structures in the parents’ work environment, parental controls, and the liking for the child’s hazardous conduct stem from the inclination each guardian has for gender roles and the parents hierarchic self-interest (HIS). HIS is the individual statement of societal dominance. HIS is dominating in cutting edge modern social orders that energize …show more content…
Some of this feedback is focused around thoughts that have not been assessed by theory. According to Ball (2011), Hagan’s hypothesis does not consider different circumstances other than power balance in the family that may impact delinquency, for example, power and class in the public eye overall. A sample of this would be single parent families in low-income areas. Ball additionally clarified that the hypothesis was just used to clarify what they call “regular” or minor delinquent conduct, not perpetual lawbreakers. At last, they say Hagan’s theory has not been tried against other major theories, so it is hard to say if Hagan’s discoveries are legitimate. According to Delisi, Hewitt, and Regili (2010), a significant evaluation of the power-control theory is that the sexual orientation contrasts inside delinquent conduct have little to do with socialization of parental controls. They say that the gender differences are essentially because of the biological contrasts between males and females and their inclination for forceful and antisocial
Bibbings , Lois , and Donald Nicolson. 2000. “General principles of criminal law'? A feminist
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
Kelly, Liz (1987) “The Continuum of Sexual Violence.” In: Women, Violence and Social Control, edited by J. Hanmer and M. Maynard. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International: 46-60.
Church, W. T., Wharton, T., & Taylor, J. K. (2008). An examination of differential association and social control theory: Family systems and delinquency. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 7(1), 3-15.
The first important term to know in reference to the topic of patriarchy and delinquency is critical feminist. Critical feminist hold that gender inequality stems from the unequal power of men and women and the subsequent exploitation of women by men; the cause of female delinquency originates with the onset of male supremacy and the efforts of males to control females’ sexuality. The next term that is important to know is patriarchy. Patriarchal is a social system in which men are dominant in family, government, and business matters. The final term that is important to know is juvenile delinquency. Juvenile delinquency is the participation in illegal behavior by a minor who falls under a statutory age (Siegel, 2012).
Although the years since Smart’s study have seen much more interest in the study of female crime and deviance, many general theories in this area continue to neglect gender as a factor influencing criminality. This is despite the fact that official figures suggest that gender is perhaps the most significant single factor in whether an individual is convicted of crime. Any theories which fail to explain this relationship could therefore be seen as inadequate. OFFICIAL STATISTICS, CRIMINALITY AND GENDER Pollak – the ‘masked’ female offender – ‘chivalry’ thesis Writing in 1950, Otto pollak argued that official statistics on gender and crime were highly misleading.
While most of the violent crimes that happens most are them are belongs to men, women have not been the wilting flowers promoted so heartily by Victorian adorers and (right or wrong) often evident in today's society. Before we get into detail about the fascinating phenomenon of the Black Widow, it is worth a brief overview of women's escalating role in the world of violent crime, particularly in the United States.
Between 1991 and 2000, arrest rates for girls increased more than arrests for boys, and by 2004 girls accounted for 30 percent of all juveniles taken into custody. Researchers have yet to establish if this trend is representative of a quantifiable increase in female juvenile crime, or if social attitudes and law enforcement response to girl’s delinquency have influenced the increase (Zahn, “Causes” 1-3). Juvenile crime overall has been declining since reaching its peak in the late 1990’s, yet the rates of girls have not experienced the same rate of decline when compared to boys.
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
The Feminist theory is based around gender inequalities and the concept of an imbalance of power between men and women and within men themselves. This theory argues that male sexual offenders are like normal men, however they have been conditioned within society and culture that when their masculinity is questioned, this creates a reaction where males sexually assault females to boost their male status within society. The feminist theory highlights how women’s experiences are often based around the struggle of male domination or patriarchy (Moore, 2008, p. 5) in relation to sexual offences. This article links closely with the Feminist Theory as
This essay will explore reasons why females such as Vanessa George turn to the crime of sex offending. Demonstrating my knowledge and understanding of classical criminological theory, exploring biological theories such as penis envy and more contemporary views such as liberation theory within feminism. The essay will then go on to look at the inequalities female sex offenders face within the criminal justice system in comparison with males, using chivalry theory and evil woman theory to explain this.
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.
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.
The theory also accounts for crime and delinquency in adolescence. Sampson and Laub (2001) differentiated the life course of individuals based on age and argued that the important formal and informal social controls that would restrict deviant behavior varied across the life span. In childhood and adolescence, the dominant sources of informal social controls consisted mainly of parenting styles, such as discipline, supervision, emotional attachment, and on school attachment and peers. As such, when the bonds to these processes weakened, adolescents were more likely to commit deviant acts that extends throughout the life course of the individual (Piquero et al., 2001).
Agnew, R. (1985). Social Control Theory and Delinquency: A Longitudinal Test. Criminology Volume 23 , 47-59.