Why has research on women and crime been limited?
males commit more violent crimes, while women commit more property crimes and prostitution
Early explanations of female offending
opportunity theory (no opportunity
Cacogenic Family Studies on the criminality of women
pertaining to or causing degeneration in the offspring produced
The Jukes
R. Dugdale did a study to where the environment is key to how someone develops and what traits they show, inferior races can be saved if they change their environment
Eugenics
study of factors that influence the hereditary qualities of the human race and ways to improve those qualities
Differences in the lives of men and women (organization, opportunity, motivation, context)
organization- women get stigmatized when committing crimes, girls are more supervised
criminal opportunity- women have less opportunities than men to be involved/commit criminal activity
motivation- men look at status and competition, sometimes avoid crim
anomie/strain theory (traditional)
society sets goals for us, tells us what we're supposed to achieve in life and how to do it.
differential association theory (trad.)
we learn to engage in offending from the people we are closest to
social control theory (trad.)
involves attachment to society; the more attachments you have to society, the less likely you are to offend
liberation thesis (fem.)
it insinuates that women's liberation makes female crime more likely and influence future female offending
economic marginalization thesis
the reason women are in crime is because they have no money, women who don't have opportunity. social class can be directly related to crime. most female offenders are from the lower class
feminist theory of delinquency
women who are sexually and/or physically abused are more likely to engage in criminal/delinquent behavior
chivalry hypothesis (widening the net)
we didn't treat women as harshly as we did men. today, chivalry is dead for women. if you commit a seriously violent crime, you're most likely going to prison. girls are sometimes punished for being a status offender for the sake of "protection.
Intersection of race, sex and class and offending
women are more likely to be victimized, minorities are set up to fail which allows them to feel like they have to commit crimes in order to get by in their daily lives. some women or girls may act out to disguise their true feelings and seek revenge on th
Statutory sex crime relationships
statutory sex offending falls under problem behavior syndrome � anti social behaviors clustered together (an adolescent who exhibits problem behaviors or any risk-taking behavior (e.g. alcohol and drug use, truancy, delinquency).
adult male/adolescent female relationship
- only case where the female can get pregnant
- the male gives them "emotional support" and "love"
- the younger the girl is in the relationship, the more likely she will commit suicide, get pregnant, and other negative factors.
- men in the relationship
adult female/adolescent male relationship
is usually viewed as sexual exploration opposed to sexual exploitation; boys are often young and come from disadvantaged families, more likely to label the relationship as casual
- the boys who saw the relationship as negative had a hard time reporting it
Handout on gender-specific programming
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Equality with a vengeance
the gender-blind treatment of women by major institutions of society, especially when such an approach is unnecessary or harmful
Trauma informed treatment
treating a whole person, taking into account past trauma and the resulting coping mechanisms when attempting to understand behaviors and treat the patient
Life Course Model
everything about your life and they way you have lived has brought you to where you are right now (social structures and individual resources play in the development of different trajectories)
Turning points
i.e. joining a gang, sexual abuse, scholarships can be gradual or dramatic
Desistance
the tendency of individuals to age out of crime over the life course
Trauma informed care
an approach to treatment that acknowledges the role that trauma can have on the mental health of individuals
Male vs. female patterns of delinquency
majority of traits are similar between both genders, but how they are affected is different (same risk factors but different effects)
Upcriming" and Relabeling girls' violence
refers to the policies, such as "zero tolerance policies" which have the effect of increasing the severity of criminal penalties associated with particular offenses, such as minor forms of fighting and school bullying
- relabels girls offenses
Girls in gangs
motivating factors include protection from other gangs or neighborhood violence, a source of income, preexisting social or familial connections to the gang, and a path to earning respect
War on Drugs and its impact on women
rapid increase in women incarcerated
gender equalities in the drug market
gender bias in eradication programs
created barriers for women to access services
threatened with violence
drug use during pregnancy
Role of substance abuse in female crime
- women are more vulnerable to victimization when using substances
- stronger association b/w victimization and substance abuse for women than men
- co-occuring disorders (mental illness + sub. abuse)
Victimization
the process of being victimized or becoming a victim of crime
Physiological factors
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Race, sex and class intersection
- most likely woman to be in prison is black, age 23-34, unemployed, HS or GED, never married
- female offenders have specific needs: gender based services, sub. abuse services, mental health services
- black women are 7 times more likely to go to jail ov
History of women's substance abuse
- Drug use increased during Prohibition
- Drug use by women, however, was largely ignored prior to the 1960's
Co-occurring disorders
- when an offender has two or more disorders
- Women substance abusers more often have co-occurring disorders such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and lower self-esteem than men
Trauma and substance abuse in women
- Strong relationship between substance use and traumatic stress
- Women report that trauma occurs before drug use majority of time
History of women in prison (Elizabeth Fry/Eliza Farnham)
- elizabeth fry: stated that women need to be separate and have rehabilitation offered
- eliza farnham: attempted to change conditions for women at Sing Sing; she was fired
Widening the net/War on Drugs
women became less chivalrous due to the war on drugs (if drugs are on the person, in home, saved for someone, time is sentenced); penalties are very severe).
Population Profile
A graphic that shows the number or percentage of men and women in a population per year group or range of years
Women on Death Row
usually under the principle of if they want equality of opportunity then it should be in punishment too
Mothers in Prison/Effect on children
the separation from children can be traumatic for all, women, fear of losing control over children's lives and loss of custody to fathers.
Mental Health and female inmates
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