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Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition Chapter 6: Women, Gender, and Offending

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (1 of 19)

Macro and micro theories.

Female lawbreakers viewed as abnormal.

Views on female criminality’s nature.

Importance of historical viewpoints.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality

Macro and micro theories of crime:

Macro theories explore large-scale social explanations, like poverty and community disorganization.

Micro theories focus on individual differences between law-abiding and law-violating behaviors.

Female lawbreakers viewed as abnormal: They have been historically viewed as worse than male lawbreakers, not only for breaking the law but also for stepping outside of prescribed gender roles of femininity and passivity.

Views on female criminality’s nature:

Theories have ranged from describing them as aggressive and violent to passive, helpless, and in need of protection.

Theories on the etiology of female offending have reflected both perspectives.

Importance of historical viewpoints: They provide a foundation for a greater understanding of female offending.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (2 of 19)

Historical Theories on Female Criminality

Theory of Lombroso and Ferrero.

Findings about female offenders.

Criticism of the theory.

Sheldon and Glueck’s study.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Historical Theories on Female Criminality

Theory of Lombroso and Ferrero:

Idea of Cesare Lombroso and William Ferrero was that criminals are biological throwbacks to a primitive breed of man and can be recognized by various atavistic degenerative physical characteristics.

To test this, they measured body parts and noted physical differences of incarcerated women in a prison.

Lombroso and Ferrero’s findings about female offenders:

Unique features like occipital irregularities, narrow foreheads, prominent cheekbones, virile type of face.

Fewer degenerative characteristics than male offenders; explained as women being biologically more primitive and less evolved.

Evil tendencies more numerous and varied than men’s.

More like men in mental and physical qualities, and more likely to experience suppressed maternal instincts and ladylike qualities.

Less sensitive to pain, less compassionate, generally jealous, and full of revenge (worst characteristics of female gender plus criminal tendencies of the male).

Criticism of the theory:

Small sample size and lack of heterogeneity of sample demographics.

Failed to control for additional environmental and structural variables that might explain criminal behavior regardless of gender.

No scientific basis for key assumptions: The authors claim that female offender was more ruthless and less merciful was more because she violated sex- and gender-role expectations than because of her actual behaviors.

Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck’s study:

They sought to distinguish female from male offenders; but also became one of the first studies on recidivism among this population.

They looked at a variety of different factors to explain criminality, like the role of the family on delinquency.

They drew from a multidisciplinary perspective, and they were influenced by disciplines like biology, sociology, psychology, and anthropology.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (3 of 19)

Historical Theories on Female Criminality

Otto Pollak’s views.

Masked criminality of women.

Flaws of early theories.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Historical Theories on Female Criminality

Otto Pollak’s views:

Criminal data sources failed to reflect true extent of female crime.

Majority of the crimes are petty, so many victims (especially males) do not report them.

Many police officers exercise discretion and may issue only informal warnings.

Women were more likely to be acquitted than male counterparts.

Even when reported, women benefit from preferential treatment by criminal justice systems.

Masked criminality of women:

Pollak suggested that women gain power by deceiving men through sexual playacting, faked sexual responses, and menstruation. This allows female criminality to go undetected.

Traditional roles of homemaker, caretaker, and domestic worker give women an avenue to engage in crimes against vulnerable populations.

Flaws of early theories:

Placed a heavy reliance on stereotypes about female offender as manipulative, cunning, and masculine.

These identities limited the analysis to a narrow perception of the world.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (4 of 19)

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Focused on male criminality.

Social bond theory.

Attachment.

Commitment.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Focused on male criminality:

Majority of theories in mid- and late 20th century gave little consideration for women’s lives.

These theories excluded women, as they represented such a small proportion of the offending population.

Theorists made gross gendered stereotypes about women and girls.

Travis Hirschi’s social bond theory:

Allegedly gender-neutral but failed to consider lives of girls and women.

Unique in that it looked for explanations why people might desist from criminal behavior.

Focused on four bonds that prevent acting on potential criminological impulses or desires.

Attachment:

Bond with family, friends, and social institutions (government, education, and religion).

People may not want to disappoint people in their lives.

Commitment:

Investment in the normative values of society.

Embodies the spirit of rational choice perspectives.

Example: Fear of jeopardizing one’s future which may involve getting a college degree.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (5 of 19)

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Involvement.

Belief.

Families as strongest inhibitor.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Involvement:

Level at which one might participate in conventional activities like studying or playing sports.

Youth who are more involved in these activities are less likely to engage in delinquent activities.

Belief:

General acceptance of rules of society.

Less a person believes he should obey the rules, the more likely he is to violate them.

Families as strongest inhibitor of delinquency:

Girls are more emotionally attached to their parents, a bond which protects them from delinquency.

Increased focus of parents on daughters: When girls engage in delinquent behavior, they can experience higher levels of shaming by parents.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (6 of 19)

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Turkish youth and delinquency.

Attachment to school.

Focus on self-control.

Self-control and early intervention.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Turkish youth and delinquency:

Research by Ozbay and Ozcan indicate that social bonds have a stronger effect on female students.

Family is an important institution in Turkish culture.

Girls are highly attached to the family unit due to differential socialization between the sexes.

Attachment to school and teachers is a stronger influence in preventing delinquency for boys.

Attachment to school:

Among American students, attachment to school can serve as a protective factor for both boys and girls.

Girls less attached to school are more likely to engage in nonviolent acts of delinquency.

Educational bonds help explain why girls are less likely to engage in alcohol and marijuana use than boys.

Focus on self-control:

Hirschi’s general theory (with Michael Gottfredson) is considered a micro-level theory.

To them, self-control is the single explanative factor for delinquent and criminal behavior.

Individuals with high levels of social control remain law abiding; those with low social control are more likely to engage in deviant and criminal activities.

Self-control and early intervention:

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi posit, the development of self-control is rooted in the family.

The more involved parents are more likely to be aware of challenges to development of children’s self-control. This leads to action and correcting these issues at a young age.

Early intervention efforts are the only effective tool to deter individuals from crime. Variables like gender, race, and class are irrelevant.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (7 of 19)

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Self-control and gender.

Differential association theory.

Theory’s application for female offenders.

Strain theory.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Self-control and gender:

Using constructs like impulsivity, risk taking, and aggression as indicators of self-control, researchers found that general theory can explain delinquency of boys but not girls.

Misconduct in girls is more likely to be explained by variables like age and presence of psychiatric disorder.

Low self-control did predict offending behaviors for Latino girls for violent offenses, but not property offenses.

Effects of self-control on offending characteristics for girls are often eliminated when variables like opportunity or social learning theory are introduced.

Any gender differences in self-control tend to disappear over time.

Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory:

It suggests that criminality is a learned behavior that results from peer associations.

People that youth spend time with influence knowledge, practices, and judgments on delinquent behavior. More the exposure to delinquent attitudes and behaviors, greater the influence.

Discussions of gender were absent in this theory.

Theory’s application for female offenders:

Research has provided mixed results in the application of differential association theory for female offenders.

Further, race and ethnicity impact effects of peer relationship for girls’ delinquency.

Silverman and Caldwell find that peer attitudes have the greatest effect on youth behavior for Hispanic girls; strength of peer relationship is a key factor.

Time plays the biggest role for White girls. As proportion of time spent with peer group increases, the greater their influence on violent delinquent behavior.

Daigle et al. and Lowe, May, and Elrod found that peer influences lead to increase in delinquency for boys but not girls; effect is stronger for delinquency of boys than girls.

Strain theory:

Traditional theories by Merton and Cohen focused on structural limitations of success.

Robert Agnew’s theory looks at individualized psychological sources as correlates of criminal behavior, highlighting 3 sources of strain: failure in achieving positive goals, loss of positive influences, arrival of negative influences.

Broidy and Agnew argue that general strain theory can be used to explain gender differences in crime.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (8 of 19)

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Gender differences in sources of strain.

Differences in responses to strain.

Negative emotions and delinquency.

Negative life events and conflict.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Gender differences in sources of strain: Girls are more likely to experience strain from violence in the home, which leads to acts like running away and substance abuse.

Differences in responses to strain: Strain can manifest as anger for boys and girls but exhibited in different ways.

Girls are more likely to internalize anger, leading to self-destructive behaviors and depression.

Boys tend to exhibit anger in physical and emotional outbursts.

Negative emotions and delinquency:

Negative emotions are a stronger factor in explaining female delinquency.

Latina youth who experience polyvictimization are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Their delinquency is a way to express their anger from their trauma.

Negative life events and conflict:

Boys experience higher levels of traditional strain (aspirations for higher educational success).

Girls are more likely to have negative life events and higher levels of conflict with parents. These are the factors that increase involvement in delinquency.

Some point to educational success as the vehicle for bringing out these issues; others identify specific experiences with strain (such as history of physical abuse) as an indirect cause of daily substance abuse.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (9 of 19)

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Relationship strain.

Peer relationships and strain.

Drug use, gender, and strain.

No gender differences for severe crimes.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Relationship strain:

Major source of strain among female delinquents.

Strain within family can manifest in behaviors like running away, substance abuse, poor relationship choices.

Poor relationship choices can be their own source of strain, particularly when girls become involved with system-involved or older males.

Peer relationships and strain:

Peer relationships can perpetuate strain, particularly in the cases of frenemies.

Garcia and Lane find that girls may engage in delinquent acts out of anger toward other female peers or status offenses in an effort to avoid being bullied.

Drug use, gender, and strain:

In drug use, gender impacts strain, particularly likelihood to recidivate.

Youth in single parent homes more likely to relapse than youth in two-parent household.

This behavior is more common for boys than girls.

No gender differences for severe crimes:

Gender may explain differences in strain for offenses like property crime and cyberbullying.

However, there are no gender differences in strain for severe criminality, like gang fights, robbery, assault.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (10 of 19)

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Traditional theories and gender.

Impact of other issues on gender.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Traditional Theories of Crime and Gender

Traditional theories and gender:

Conclusions are mixed.

Some of these theories can help understand female crime.

Others are more suited to explaining male criminality.

Impact of other issues on gender:

It is important to consider how issues of intersectionality can impact the findings.

Future research must consider how race, ethnicity, and sexuality can influence gender issues within classical theories of offending.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (11 of 19)

Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors

Works of Adler and Simon.

Criticisms of Adler and Simon’s works.

Role of women’s emancipation.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors

Works of Adler and Simon:

Freda Adler and Rita Simon highlighted how liberation of women led to increased participation in criminal activities.

Adler’s suggestion: Women’s rates of violent crime would increase. They would be more likely to offend as they became less enamored with traditional gender roles.

Simon’s suggestion: Women would commit a greater proportion of property crimes. Their involvement in crime would increase due to changes to options outside the home (education and occupational).

Criticisms of Adler and Simon’s works:

Crime statistics from 1960 to 1975 indicate that female and male rates for violent crimes skyrocketed.

Low reference point for female crimes creates a large percentage increase, which can be misinterpreted and overexaggerated.

Overreliance on effects of liberation movement: Increased opportunities for crime did not mean that women were more compelled to engage in crime.

Changing policies in policing and processing female offenders may reflect an increase of women in the system due to changes in response by criminal justice system to crimes involving women.

Role of women’s emancipation:

Changing social position of women would have had some effect on crime.

Women’s involvement in crime may have impacted role of men in criminal behavior.

The more patriarchial a society, the wider the gender gap in offending.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (12 of 19)

Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors

Power control theory.

Hagan’s focus on two-parent structure.

Life course theory.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors

John Hagan’s power control theory:

It assesses how patriarchy can influence gender-role socialization and how this impacts rates of delinquency.

Women and girls are socialized in different ways from men and boys. Under patriarchal family structure, boys are encouraged to be more aggressive, ambitious, and outgoing and have increased freedom.

These power differences lead girls to have lower rates of crime because of reduced opportunities.

Families structured in a more egalitarian manner will socialize their children in a similar fashion regardless of sex, This leads to fewer gender differences in delinquency.

Hagan’s focus on two-parent structure:

Aside from patriarchal structure, children may reside in divorced, separated, and noncohabitating homes.

Single fathers tend to exert similar levels of parental control as in two-parent patriarchal families, while single mothers exert lower levels.

In families with higher parental control, girls are more likely to refrain from deviant behaviors viewed as risky.

Single parent may be less likely to exert parental control due to reduced supervision opportunities. So, this family structure may present an indirect effect on youth delinquency.

Robert Sampson and John Laub’s life course theory:

Life events can provide insight as to why one might engage in crime.

Adolescence is a crucial time in development of youthful (ultimately adult) offending behaviors.

Ties to conventional adult activities can be a protective factor in adulthood, even if individual engaged in delinquent acts during adolescence.

This theory allows for a gender-neutral review of how developmental milestones can explain criminal behavior.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (13 of 19)

Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors

Gender and life course theory.

Significant life events.

6.1. Analyze traditional explanations of crime and how it relates to gender.

Modern Theories of Female Offending Behaviors

Gender and life course theory:

Thompson and Petrovic suggested that social bonds like marriage, education, employment, and children can impact men and women differently.

While Sampson and Laub suggested that marriage inhibits criminal behavior in men, Thompson and Petrovic reported that not marriage alone but strength of the marriage might reduce substance abuse for women.

Estrada and Nilsson noted that female offenders are more likely to come from childhoods traumatized by poverty.

Women who engage in chronic offending into adulthood are less likely to have consistent employment histories and be involved in healthy romantic relationships.

These instabilities may lead women toward lifestyles that encourage criminal behavior.

Significant life events:

Life course theory needs to expand its understanding of what is a “significant life event.”

Belknap and Holsinger point to effects of early childhood abuse traumas, mental health concerns, and sexual identity as significant life events for understanding criminality.

Significant life events can help explain how women exit from criminality.

For first-time mothers, likelihood of remaining in a gang decreases by 93% and rate of offending decreases by 47%; only true for first time motherhood.

While fatherhood did not significantly reduce gang membership and offending for males, there are decreases when fathers reside with their children.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (14 of 19)

Feminist Criminology

Builds on gender roles and socialization.

Key themes in the development.

Influence of feminist thought.

Feminist pathways approach.

6.2. Assess how feminist criminology and feminist pathways theory can help provide a holistic approach to understanding female offending.

Feminist Criminology

Builds on gender roles and socialization: Feminist criminology begins with background of female offenders to assess who she is, where she comes from, and why she engages in crime.

Key themes in the development:

Feminist criminology began with the awareness that women were invisible in conventional studies and as a reaction against established male chauvinism in the discipline.

Theoretical criminology constructed by men, about men could not explain female patterns of crime. Existing theories are inconsistent with female realities.

So, there is a need for specific explanations of female patterns of crime.

Influence of feminist thought:

Feminist discussions about crime are not limited to women’s issues and incorporate conversations on masculinity and patriarchy.

Given the historical distortions and the casual assumptions about women’s lives in relationship to their criminal behaviors, incorporating feminist perspectives can provide a richer understanding about both the nature of female offending and the role of how experiences with victimization of women shape this process.

Feminist criminology is not a single identity but an opportunity to consider multiple influences when understanding issues of gender and crime.

Feminist pathways approach:

Seeks to show how life events (and traumas) affect the likelihood to engage in crime, but begins with a feminist foundation.

Identified a cycle of violence for female offenders that begins with victimization and results in involvement in offending behavior.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (15 of 19)

Feminist Criminology

Role of victimization.

Homeless women and exotic dancers.

Multiple pathways to crime.

First theme and two pathways.

6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.

Feminist Criminology

Role of victimization:

Female offenders report substantially high occurrences of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse throughout their lifetimes.

While it does not fit all female offenders, these risks must be recognized to understand female offending.

This link has largely been ignored by theorists and those responsible for responding to female victimization and offenses.

Homeless women and exotic dancers:

Wesely’s research on homeless women and exotic dancers incorporates feminist pathways perspective.

The levels of childhood abuse and victimization were located within a nexus of powerlessness, gender-specific sexualization and exploitation, economic vulnerability and destitution, and social alienation and exclusion.

These women grew up believing that violence was normal, which influenced their decision-making throughout life.

They learned sexuality is a tool to manipulate and control, so they chose to engage in sex work at a young age to escape abuse from parents and family members. This placed them at risk for further violence.

These lived experiences contributed to a downward spiral where women were preoccupied with daily survival, beaten down, depressed, unsuccessful at making choices or having opportunities that improved conditions.

Multiple pathways to crime:

An approach on feminist pathways formulated by Brennan, Breitenbach, Dieterich, Salisbury, von Voorhis.

Their work identifies 8 pathways within 4 unique themes.

First theme and two pathways:

Women with lower experiences of victimization and abuse but major criminality revolves around addiction.

First pathway contains women who are younger and parents of minor children.

Second pathway involves women who are older and do not have children.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (16 of 19)

Feminist Criminology

Second theme and two pathways.

Similarities of third and fourth themes.

Third theme and two pathways.

Fourth theme and two pathways.

6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.

Feminist Criminology

Second theme and two pathways:

Highlights role of victimization and abuse. Many of these women also experience emotional and physical abuse by a significant other.

First pathway: Younger single mothers who may have depression. Offenses involve drugs and dual arrests from intimate partner violence.

Second pathway: Women who engage in higher rates of crime and have greater issues with drugs and mental health. They are older and not involved in parenting.

Similarities of third and fourth themes:

Involve women who have been highly marginalized throughout their lives.

They typically lived in high-crime areas with high rates of poverty.

They suffered in school and often lack adequate vocational skills to provide sustenance.

Third theme and two pathways:

Lower rates of victimization and fewer mental health issues than in fourth theme. Many of these women were involved in acts of drug trafficking.

First pathway: Women who tend to be younger and single parents.

Second pathway: Women have higher rates of crime and noncompliance with criminal justice system and are less dependent on significant other. They tend to be older and nonparenting.

Fourth theme and two pathways:

Antisocial and aggressive women with limited abilities to develop stable environment and often homeless.

First pathway: Women are distinguished primarily by their mental health status.

Second pathway: Women who are considered actively psychotic, are at risk for suicide, and have a significant history with violence and aggression.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (17 of 19)

Feminist Criminology

Evidence for link to victimization.

History of abuse and delinquency.

Attempts to escape abuse.

Pathway as a blurred boundary.

6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.

Feminist Criminology

Evidence for link to victimization:

Feminist pathways approach may best explain how women get stuck in a cycle of victimization and offending.

Research provides evidence for the link between victimization and offending; incarcerated girls are more likely to be abused than male counterparts.

In California, 92% of delinquent girls reported facing at least one form of abuse.

History of abuse and delinquency:

Research points to women committing offenses like running away and school failure rather than violent acts.

Effects of sexual assault are also related mental health traumas, like posttraumatic stress disorder and a negative self-identity.

Young girls with history of early childhood abuse often turn to illicit substances to cope.

Attempts to escape abuse:

In many cases, young girls who ran away from abusive homes were forced to return by public agencies.

Many who refused to remain in abusive situations were incarcerated and labeled “out of parental control.”

In attempt to escape, girls often fell into crimes of survival like prostitution, where they faced violence and included behaviors like robbery, assault, and rape.

Early offenses led to major part of adolescence behind bars. As adults, they were convicted for criminal offenses, including serious felonies.

Pathway as a blurred boundary:

Gilfus’s work characterizes the pathway to delinquency as one of “blurred boundaries.”

This is because categories of victim and offender are not separate and distinct. Girls keep moving between them as their victimization does not stop once they become offenders.

In addition to victimization experienced as a result of survival strategies, many continued to be victimized by the system through its failure to provide adequate services.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (18 of 19)

Feminist Criminology

Race, class, and sexuality.

Black feminist criminology.

Victimization and general behavior.

Developing the right theoretical structure.

6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.

Feminist Criminology

Race, class, and sexuality:

Feminist criminologists study how these issues impact criminality and the system’s response.

Women of color experience multiple marginalized identities, which impacts their trajectories of offending.

Black feminist criminology:

Identifies 4 themes that alter experiences for Black women in criminal justice system.

First, many Black women experience structural oppression in society.

Second, Black community and culture features unique characteristics due to their racialized experiences.

Third, Black families differ in their intimate and familial relations.

Fourth, the Black woman is seen as an individual, unique in her own right.

Victimization and general behavior:

In addition to high correlation with the propensity to engage in criminal behaviors, a history of abuse can dictate the types of behaviors in which young girls engage.

Often, these behaviors are methods of surviving abuse, but only their criminal nature brings these girls to the attention of the criminal justice system.

Majority of incarcerated women meet official criteria for PTSD; hence, it is important to pay attention to impact of trauma, on both mental health as well as in reducing criminality.

Developing the right theoretical structure: The success of feminist perspective depends on a structure that not only has to address questions about crime and delinquency but also issues such as sex-role expectations and patriarchal structures within society.

Theoretical Perspectives on Female Criminality (19 of 19)

Feminist Criminology

Policy implications for justice system.

Expanding discussions in future.

Linking research and activism.

6.3. Explain the intersections between criminal victimization and offending.

Feminist Criminology

Policy implications for justice system:

Traditionally male-centered approaches involve ignorance about causes of girls’ delinquency and threaten the appropriateness of systemic intervention with and treatment responses for girls.

Inclusion of feminist criminology has important policy implications in the 21st century.

Expanding discussions in future:

Feminist criminology should also discuss intersections between gender, race, and class.

Example: Increases in number of women incarcerated due to war on drugs represent a war on women in general with specific and detrimental effects for women of color.

Linking research and activism: Feminist scholars need to pursue opportunities to link their research and activism, particularly given recent trends in crime control policies that have consequences for lives of women, their families and communities.