CRIM 1650 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Property Crime, Homicide, Real Change
16 Dec 2018
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VII. Gender and Crime I – Female Offending
A. Concepts
1. “Nasty” Girls and “Unruly” Women - not criminal, but a moral lens put on them. Women
acting in way that they aren’t supposed to act stereotypically
1. De-Gendering of Violent Women
2. Gender Gap
3. Patriarchy
4. “Sex” versus “Gender”
B. Themes
1. What is the relationship between the perception and the reality of female offending?
1. Public perceptions
a. Rates of female crime are on the rise – what most people think. Youth, female
crime becoming more violent
b. Women, and, in particular, young girls are becoming more violent
c. Equalization of opportunities and the disappearance of the “gender gap”
However….
1. Majority of female crimes are non-violent: (Men are still responsible for vast majority of
crime in our society. Crimes of violence: 84% men, 16%. Property crime: 77% men, 23%
female. Other crimes: Adult males 82%, adult female 18%)
a. The increase is attributed to less serious crimes then. 1986-2005: serious violent
crimes for women somewhat of an increase, but not overly significant, but
common assault has an immense increase
b. Women committing homicide is extremely rare. But when it does the victim is
someone known to them, and crime often occurs in some domestic situation. It’s
not women killing strangers
2. Evidence of re-labeling and discovery of ‘new’ offences’: Rise can be attributed to NOT
more common assault, but the way behaviour is viewed. The re-labeling of behaviours
that were once not thought as violent, but now it is taken more seriously, such that
actions by women and girls in particular came to be re-labeled as forms of criminal
conduct.
3. Women and War on Drugs: increased arrest rates across he boards particularly impact
on African Americans in the United States and huge profound impact on non-white
groups. Also significant impact on women and you saw over this period an increase of
drug possession. This is probably because of women’s vulnerable roles: women will drug
traffic leaving them very exposed
4. Women as victims: serious violence tends to be linked to their own history of abuse as
well as prior victimization. Their crimes are often a product of their own victimization
(harassment, sexual violence). This is important because it shows a women’s victim and
offender problem; they are interrelated.
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Document Summary
Gender and crime i female offending: concepts, nasty girls and unruly women - not criminal, but a moral lens put on them. Youth, female crime becoming more violent: women, and, in particular, young girls are becoming more violent, equalization of opportunities and the disappearance of the gender gap . However : majority of female crimes are non-violent: (men are still responsible for vast majority of crime in our society. Other crimes: adult males 82%, adult female 18%: the increase is attributed to less serious crimes then. 1986-2005: serious violent crimes for women somewhat of an increase, but not overly significant, but common assault has an immense increase: women committing homicide is extremely rare. But when it does the victim is someone known to them, and crime often occurs in some domestic situation. It"s not women killing strangers: evidence of re-labeling and discovery of new" offences": rise can be attributed to not more common assault, but the way behaviour is viewed.
