The Impact of Feminism on
Criminology
Understanding Criminology
Dan Ellingworth
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Lecture Outline
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The dimensions of feminism
The critique of ‘malestream’ criminology
The development of criminological theory
The impact of feminism on:– Criminological theory
– Criminal Justice Practice
Strands of feminist thought
• Liberal Feminism
• Marxist / Socialist Feminism
• Radical Feminism
Shared Concerns
• Gender inequalities in society
• Distinction between sex and gender
• Gendered division of labour: paid and unpaid
Liberal Feminism
• Moderate: gradual change in the balance of
economic, political and social power
• Women and men are subject to different
opportunities, both legitimate and criminal
• Inequality due to un-equal opportunities: equality
can be gained by legislation, and ensuring the
equality of legal rights
• Adler: “female emancipation” thesis
• Aim: to increase women’s representation in the
CJS and in academic criminology
Radical feminism
• Central concept: patriarchy – the system by which
men systematically benefit from the oppression of
women
• Key institutions of oppression of women: the family;
the male control of reproduction and sexuality;
pornography; sexual crime and domestic violence
• Criminology may represent an institution of
oppression of women
– Carol Smart questions the implicit assumption of
criminology that women’s experience as in reference to
men’s
Marxist / Socialist feminism
• Patriarchy and capitalism to blame for women’s
oppression
• Women’s provide represents
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An unpaid source of domestic labour
The source of the next workforce
Both benefit men, but most importantly capitalists
solution – revolution, or evolution to socialism
• Pat Carlen:
– women offenders are disproportionately experience poverty / class
inequality / racial disadvantage
– gender and patriarchy are not sufficient
– “Dual systems” theory
Shared Concerns regarding
Criminology
• Criminology’s gender blindness
“Our knowledge is still in its infancy. In
comparison with the massive documentation on
all aspects of male delinquency and criminality,
the amount of work carried out on the area of
women and crime is extremely limited”
Carol Smart (1977)
Women, Crime and Criminology
Shared Concerns regarding
Criminology
• The ‘Generalisability’ Problem
– Can theories that explain male deviance also be
used to explain female deviance?
• Widening the net
– Considering areas not previously considered to
be within the realm of criminology
• Political Campaigns
Women as Offenders
• A criminological truism to say that women offend
at a much lower rate than men
• Across all crime –
– 76.1% of offenders were male
– 3.2 male offenders to every 1 female offender
– 1/3rd of men have a criminal conviction by age of 35:
8% of women have
• Women tend to be convicted of less serious
offences
• The ‘gender gap’ is narrowing slightly
– 1950s: 7 male offenders for each female offender
– Now: 3.2 male offenders for each female offender
Ratio of male to female offenders found guilty:
selected offences
Over 20:1
Sexual Offences (74:1)
Burglary (24:1)
Over 5:1
Motoring Offences (19:1)
Robbery (12.75: 1)
Criminal Damage (10:1)
Drugs Offences (9.3:1)
Violence against the person (5.3:1)
Under 5:1
Fraud and Forgery (2.8:1)
Robbery (2.7:1)
Theft and handling stolen good (2.6:1)
Women in
majority
TV licence evasion 0.5:1
Prostitution 0.01:1
Source: Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System 2004/05 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/s95women0405.pdf
Explanations for ‘gender gap’
1. Biological: women are naturally less criminal
than men (Lombroso)
2. Masked Crime: women’s routine activities allow
them greater opportunities for concealing crime
(Pollak)
3. Control: girls and young women are subject to
more control than boys and young men
4. Gender and Strain: women’s maternal roles
lessen the impact of economic status deprivation
5. Chivalry: Police and Courts deal with women
more leniently: evidence patchy
“Malestream” Theories of
Female Criminality
• Lombroso
– Criminals were “atavistic throwbacks” i.e. “under-evolved”
– Women criminals were seen as being like men: without women’s
‘usual passivity’
• William I Thomas “The Unadjusted Girl” (1923)
– Female crime can be explained by increased sexual freedom
• Otto Pollak “The Criminality of Women” (1950)
– Women’s crime under-reported
• Male Chivalry
• Women’s inherent ability to (sexually) deceive
Feminist critique of
“Malestream” Criminology
• Women’s Offending seen as
– Essentialist: gender differences in offending
must result from basic differences between
sexes
– Biological / Sexualised
• The explanations for female criminality remain
wedded to biological positivism
– Doubly Deviant
• Women’s Victimisation ignored
Questions posed for Criminological
theory
• Why is there a gender-gap in offending
patterns?
• Why does it seem to be reducing?
• Do women experience different levels of
criminogenic conditions, or do they react to
them differently?
Robert Agnew &
General Strain Theory
• Limitations of classic Strain Theory
– Fail to explain gender differences in offending
– An assumption that women feel less economic
strain
• Agnew’s
– Gendered differences in sources of strain and
adaptations
– Women: relationships and purpose of life
– Men: finance, work and status
Agnew & GST
• Why are men more delinquent?
– Do men experience more strain? No
– Do they experience different strains? Possibly: may be
becoming more similar
– Do men react differently to strain? Probably
Situation
Reaction
Response
Men
Work/Status
Strain
Fairness of Outcome
Anger; need to
rectify; moral
outrage
Crime
Women
Personal Strain
Fairness of Procedure
Sadness;
Self-destructive
Depression; Fear; deviance eg. Eating
anxiety
disorders; drug use
John Hagan: Power-Control Theory
Different Work Patterns
For Mothers and Fathers
Different Levels of Gender
authority in workplace and
power in the home
“Free-floating” patriarchal
Ideologies of control
Different Patterns of
Delinquency
Different Parenting styles
For boys and girls
Gendered Patterns of Risk
amongst boys and girls
Changes over time have seen these gender distinctions reduce
Economic Marginalization?
• Argument:
– Economic Marginalization is a important causal
determinant of crime
– Women have become increasingly
economically marginalized – the “feminization
of poverty”
• Higher number of female headed single parent
households
• Reduction in welfare provision
– Result - The gender gap in offending is
narrowing
Prevalence of violent crime victimisation,
by gender and age (BCS 2000)
Little evidence from the British Crime Survey that
women are more likely to suffer personal crime
Age
Male
Female
All ages 5.0%
3.0%
16-24
8.7%
18.8%
BUT, this is a relatively narrow definition of personal
crime
“Gendered Crime”
• More recent focus has fallen on the limitations of
a focus on “conventional crime”
• Part of critical criminology’s impact:
– Reluctance to accept definitions of crime
– Critical of police and CJS practice (and existing
criminology)
– Sceptical of recorded statistics (esp. police
recorded figures)
Evidence
• Female criminals considered “doubly deviant”
– Norms of criminal behaviour
– Gendered norms of behaviour
• Specific needs of female prisoners ignored
• High levels of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault
• Inadequate police and criminal justice response to women’s
victimisation
• Fear of Crime consistently higher for women
• Other forms of victimisation only lower because of
women’s avoidance behaviour
• Criminology remains primarily a study of men
The Impact of Feminism on
Criminological Theory
• Awareness of a gender angle in offending,
victimisation, and the practice of the
criminal justice system
• Emphasising the victim in criminology
• Make the ‘hidden’ visible
– the family as a location of crime
– rape and sexual assault
• Feminist Research
The Impact of Feminism on
Criminal Justice Policy
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Provision of services
Improved policing attitudes (limited?)
Consideration of Female Incarceration
Research
Awareness-raising