Differential association addresses the interaction individuals have with groups and individuals and the process of identification with them. The importance one allocates to the interaction with the surrounding environment dictates whether the predominating behaviour will be adopted (Akers & Jensen in McLaughlin & Neuburn, 2010, p. 59).
Empirical research indicates that delinquent peers constitute one of the most powerful predictors of delinquent behaviour ( Jensen, 1972;Matsueda 1982; Benda, 1994; Warr, 1996; Warr, 2002). Data suggests that the effect of delinquent peers on delinquency is stronger among males than among females (Johnson, 1979, Simons et al.,1980, MacDonald & Piquero 2005).
The reason behind the gender differences in association within peer groups could be that subcultures tend to praise and reinforce “masculine” images and girls often do not fit (Steffensmeier cited in Covington, 1988, p.492). Nevertheless, according to Giordano, girls are more likely to be influenced by male delinquent peers than female ones (Giordano, 1978), suggesting that the external properties of the delinquent peer groups are more important for differential association than the internal characteristics of the individuals influenced. Hence, it would seem reasonable to conclude that the differing crime rates of males and females could be just a reflection of the higher intensity, frequency, priority and duration of males’ association with peers from the same sex.
However, other studies contend this view by noting that the strong moral beliefs, which are generally more often observed in females than in males, correspond to the peer influence gap among the genders (Maers et al., 1998). That observation could easily be allocated to different...
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...traditional views on masculinity and femininity are proportional to sex-differences in rates of crime (Chesney-Lind & Shelden 1993, Pollock-Byrne 1990, Steffensmeier & Allan 1996).
However, other studies show that while this finding applies for men, it is inversely proportional for women. It has been demonstrated that the gender gap in crime rates is smaller when gender roles are less discernible (Loy and Norland 1981, Adler 1975, Simon 1975, Heimer and De Coster 1999). This means that females who perceive themselves less as part of the gender construct tend to resemble males more in their likelihood to commit crimes. Accordingly, cultures where men define their role within society in a gender-stereotyped manner show an increased tendency towards criminality, compared to women. These findings clearly point at the relationship between gender-biased definitions and
Booth, J., Farrell, A., & Varano, S. (2008). Social control, serious delinquency, and risky behavior: A gendered analysis. Crime & Delinquency, 54(3), 423-456.
Victor Rios states in his well-renowned book Punished, “In 1924, sociologist Edwin Sutherland discussed how boys were taught to be “rough and tough”, rendering them more likely than girls to become delinquent.” (Rios, 2011, p. 131) This quotation alone means that for almost 100 years, if not longer, boys have had a criminality stigma attached to them just because of their gender. Not only is it completely out of anybody’s control to pick their gender, it is also extremely sexist to say that boys are more likely than girls to become deviant in behavior. There are numerous statistics that prove how men are more often targeted than women when it comes to criminal acts, as well as how they are perceived to be more violent and less likely to comply
According to Beirne & Messerschmidt men commit more crimes than women. With men making up 78% of arrests for every crime except Larceny, they are also more likely to commit conventional and serious conventional crimes. Especially in the case of white collar and political crimes, men make up a vast majority
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.
For every crime, the offense and charge are different. In addition, not every crime is committed by the same gender. Crimes such as larceny, fraud, forgery, and prostitution (Chesney-Lind, 1986) tend to be committed more often by women; whereas, assault, murder, trafficking, etc tend to be committed by men. When it comes to the stereotyping of women in the criminal justice system, one could say that women present themselves as victims to reach a lesser sentence or that by presenting themselves as victims they will have a longer sentence that will protect them. Statistical evidence has shown that women do in fact receive lesser and longer sentences when they are convicted of the similar crimes as men; such as drug related crimes (Coughenour, 1995).
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
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.
If women in the family are held to more social control, and men hold more social power, these practices are further replicated, allowing boys more freedom, and forcing more rigid boundaries and control over girls. More freedom provided to male youth could explain why the rate of total crime for male youths is higher than female youths, as the opportunity for delinquency is much higher for males than females. However, the egalitarian families who raise their children with equal levels of supervision could explain why female youth delinquency (total crime rate) still exists, although at significantly lower rate than that of male youths. The same concept applies for the differences between adult male and female total rates of crime, which are similar to the rate differences between male and female youths.
Differential Association Theory is defined as a theoretical perspective that examines how people learn to be deviant or a conformist based on the community they are a part of. For example, because students are sitting in class room they have learned to conform to gain rewards and now are able to achieve in society. Edwin Sutherland coined the term differential association to indicate this: from the different groups we associate with, we learn to deviate from or conform to society’s norm. (Handlin 2015, Smith 2017).
However(Harper and Chitty,(2005) cited in Youth Justice Board(2009) states that work directed at criminogenic needs appears to be of most value with both boys and girls, and this is congruent with research into effective interventions. The method of how gender is defined in crime by the Youth Justice Board(2009) guidelines are clearly gender based and some would argue that it is a bias to boys and their
Krohn, M., & Massey, J. (1980). Social control and delinquent behavior: an examination of the elements of the social bond. The Socialogical Quarterly, 21(4), 529-544.
According to Krohn (1986) bridged together theoretical propositions from the delinquency-enhancing effects of differential association and the delinquency-constraining effects of social bonds, as these interact with social learning and social control. His network theory maintains that the lower the network density in relationship to population density, the weaker the constraints against nonconformity, and the higher rates of
...why youth engage in criminal activity Research suggests delinquent peers are a proximate cause than family/parental; family/parental may only be a slight cause of involvement in crime. Some research suggests that criminal propensities can be inherited through genes. Unfortunately, the media portrayals of crime aren’t a true representative of the actual crime trends, or accurately reflecting the level of crime perpetrated by youth. There are many different variables that could cause youth to engage in criminal activity, some of these major variables have been discussed throughout this essay.