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Mallicoat, Women, Gender, and Crime Core Concepts, Second Edition Chapter 1: Women, Gender, and Crime: Introduction

Introduction

Gendered justice.

Gendered experiences of victimization.

Criticism of traditional approaches.

Women in men-dominated occupations.

Introduction

Gendered justice:

It is also referred to as injustice.

It is the discrimination of individuals based on their gender.

This idea is often seen in the criminal justice system where the needs and unique experiences of women go unmet because of the fact that the theories of offending have come from the perspective of men.

Gendered experiences of victimization:

Women are the major victims for specific types of crimes, particularly when men are the primary offender.

Gendered experiences of victimization is evident in crimes such as rape, sexual assault, intimate partner abuse, and stalking.

Criticism of traditional approaches:

The traditional systems designed to help victims often ignore women sufferings in disproportionate ways.

Women’s needs as offenders are ignored because they face a variety of unique circumstances and experiences that are absent from the men offending population.

Traditional approaches in criminological theory and practice have been criticized for their failure to understand the lives and experiences of women.

Women in men-dominated occupations:

The employment of women in the criminal justice system has been limited.

Women in these occupations often faced a hyper-masculine culture that challenged the introduction of women.

Women continue to struggle for equality in a world where the effects of the “glass ceiling” continue to pervade a system that presents itself as one interested in the notion of justice.

The Influence of Feminism on Studies of Women, Gender, and Crime (1 of 3)

Feminism.

Difference between sex and gender.

Advances in study of women, crime.

Expansion of second wave of feminism.

1.2. Identify the influence of feminism on criminology.

The Influence of Feminism on Studies of Women, Gender, and Crime

Feminism:

A series of social and political movements (also referred to as the three waves of feminism) that advocated for women’s rights and gender equality.

It plays a key role in understanding how the criminal justice system responds to women and women’s issues.

Difference between sex and gender:

Sex refers to the biological or physiological characteristics of what makes someone men or women.

The term sex can often be used to talk about the segregation of men and women in jails or prison.

Gender refers to the identification of masculine and feminine traits, which are socially constructed terms.

For example, in early theories of criminology, women offenders were often characterized as masculine.

It was believed by scholars that women offenders were more like men than women.

Advances in study of women, crime:

Advances seen throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

The 1960s and 1970s shed light on several significant issues that impacted many different groups in society.

The momentum of social change as represented by the civil rights and women’s movements had significant impacts for society.

Expansion of second wave of feminism:

The second wave expanded beyond women’s suffrage and the right to vote to topics such as sexuality, legal inequalities, and reproductive rights.

Criminology scholars began to think differently about women and offending.

Prior to this time, women were largely forgotten in research about crime and criminal behavior.

The Influence of Feminism on Studies of Women, Gender, and Crime (2 of 3)

Work by liberal feminists.

Focus of third-wave feminism.

Think differently about women offenders.

1.2. Identify the influence of feminism on criminology.

The Influence of Feminism on Studies of Women, Gender, and Crime

Work by liberal feminists:

Some of the first feminist criminologists gained attention during the 1960s and 1970s.

The majority of these scholars were focused primarily on looking at issues of equality and difference between men and women in terms of offending and responses by the criminal justice system.

These liberal feminists focused only on gender and did not include discussions that reflected a multicultural identity.

Such a focus resulted in a narrow view of the women that were involved in crime and how the system responded to their offending.

Focus of third-wave feminism:

Third-wave feminism addresses the multiple, diverse perspectives of women, such as race, ethnicity, nationality, and sexuality.

Feminist criminologists began to talk about the nature of the women offender and began to ask questions about the lives of women involved in the criminal justice system such as:

Who is she?

Why does she engage in crime?

How is she different from the men offender, and how should the criminal justice system respond to her?

Think differently about women offenders:

Feminist criminologists began to encourage the criminal justice system to think differently about women offenders.

Feminism also encouraged new conversations about women victimization.

The efforts of second- and third-wave feminism brought increased attention to women who were victims of crime.

How do women experience victimization?

How does the system respond to women who have been victims of a crime?

How have criminal justice systems and policies responded to the victimization of women?

The Influence of Feminism on Studies of Women, Gender, and Crime (3 of 3)

Greater participation in the workforce.

Feminist criminology.

Black feminist criminology.

1.2. Identify the influence of feminism on criminology.

The Influence of Feminism on Studies of Women, Gender, and Crime

Greater participation in the workforce:

Scholars were faced with questions regarding how gender impacts the way in which women work within the police department, correctional agencies, and the legal system.

What issues do women face within the context of these occupations?

How has the participation of women in these fields affected the experiences of women who are victims and offenders?

Feminist criminology:

Developed as a reaction against traditional criminology, which failed to address women and girls in research.

It reflects several of the themes of gender roles and socialization that resulted from the second wave of feminism.

Black feminist criminology: It looks at how the relationship between race, gender, and other issues of oppression create multiple marginalities for women of color.

Women, Gender, and Crime (1 of 4)

Women as Victims of Violence

Women compose majority of victims.

Criticism by criminal justice system, society.

Needs of victimized women.

1.1. Define how sex and gender impact victims, offenders, and workers in the criminal justice system.

Women as Victims of Violence

Women compose majority of victims:

Victimization is something that many women are intimately familiar with.

While men are more likely to be a victim of a crime, women compose the majority of victims of certain forms of violent crime.

Women are most likely to be victimized by someone they know.

Criticism by criminal justice system, society:

When women seek help from the criminal justice system, charges are not always filed or are often reduced through plea bargains, resulting in offenders receiving limited sanctions for their criminal behavior.

Because of the sensitive nature of these offenses, victims can find their own lives put on trial to be criticized by the criminal justice system and society as a whole.

Needs of victimized women:

Women who experience victimization have a number of needs, particularly in cases of violent and personal victimization experiences.

The emotional violence can be equally significant to physical damage and traumatic for victims to deal with.

The high needs of many victims, coupled with an increased demand for services, means that the availability of resources by agencies such as domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers are often limited.

Women, Gender, and Crime (2 of 4)

Women Who Offend

Gender gap in offending.

Domination in certain crimes.

Socially proscribed gender roles.

1.1. Define how sex and gender impact victims, offenders, and workers in the criminal justice system.

Women Who Offend

Gender gap:

Refers to the differences in men and women offending for different types of offenses.

Research shows that the gender gap is larger in cases of serious or violent crimes, while the gap is narrower for crimes such as property and drug related offenses.

Domination in certain crimes:

Prostitution, often called a victimless crime, is an offense where the majority of arrests involve women.

Status offenses: Another category where girls are overrepresented.

They are acts that are considered criminal only because of the offender’s age.

For example, the consumption of alcohol is considered illegal only if we are under a designated age.

Socially proscribed gender roles:

The socially proscribed gender roles for women behavior is violated when women engage in crime.

Therefore, women may be punished for violating the law as well as violating the socially proscribed gender roles.

As more women have come to the attention of criminal justice officials, and as policies and practices for handling these cases have shifted, more women are being sent to prison rather than being supervised in the community.

There is a greater demand on reentry programming and services for women.

The collateral consequences in the incarceration of women are far reaching, because the identity as an ex-offender can threaten a woman’s chances for success long after she has served her sentence.

Women, Gender, and Crime (3 of 4)

The Intersection of Victimization and Offending

Offending due to prior victimization.

Relationship continues as a cycle.

1.1. Define how sex and gender impact victims, offenders, and workers in the criminal justice system.

The Intersection of Victimization and Offending

Offending due to prior victimization:

One of the greatest contributions of feminist criminology is the acknowledgment of the relationship between victimization and offending.

History of victimization of women is a common factor for many women offenders.

Majority of women in prison have experienced some form of abuse, physical, psychological, or sexual, and in many cases, are victims of long-term multiple acts of violence.

Relationship continues as a cycle:

Not only is there a strong relationship that leads from victimization to offending but the relationship between these two variables continues also as a vicious cycle.

For example:

A young girl who is sexually abused by a family member runs away from home.

Rather than return to her abusive environment, she ends up selling her body as a way to provide food, clothing, and shelter.

In order to cope with physical and sexual violence with dangerous clients and pimps, she may turn to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain of the abuse.

When confronted by the criminal justice system, she receives little if any assistance to address the multiple issues.

In addition, her criminal identity makes it difficult to find valid employment, receive housing and food benefits, or have access to educational opportunities that could improve her situation.

Ultimately, it makes it difficult to find a healthy and sustainable life on her own.

Women, Gender, and Crime (4 of 4)

Women and Work in the Criminal Justice System

Women who work in the system.

1960s and 1970s social movements.

Sex and gender-based challenges.

1.1. Define how sex and gender impact victims, offenders, and workers in the criminal justice system.

Women and Work in the Criminal Justice System

Women who work in the system:

It is important to consider how issues of sex and gender impact the work environment.

The experiences of women as police and correctional officers, victim advocates, probation and parole case managers, and lawyers and judges provide valuable insight on how sex and gender differences affect women.

1960s and 1970s social movements:

The social movements of the 1960s and 1970s also increased the access to opportunities for work within the walls of criminal justice for women.

Prior to this era of social change, even when women were present, their duties were significantly limited compared to those of their men counterparts, and their opportunities for advancement were essentially nonexistent.

Sex and gender-based challenges:

These challenges are directly related to their status as women, such as on-the-job sexual harassment, work-family balance, maternity, and motherhood.

Research reflects on how women manage the roles, duties, and responsibilities of their positions within a historically masculine environment.

The experience of womanhood can impact the work environment, both personally and culturally.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders (1 of 7)

Study of crime using datasets.

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).

UCR assesses crime changes.

1.3. Discuss data sources for female offending and victimization rates.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders

Study of crime using datasets:

there is no one dataset that tells us everything that we want to know about crime, we can learn something from each source because they each represent different points of view.

Datasets vary based on the type of information collected (quantitative and/or qualitative), who manages the dataset (such as government agencies, professional scholar, community organization), and the purpose for the data collection.

Each dataset represents a picture of crime for a specific population, region, and time frame, or stage, of the criminal justice system.

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR):

An annual collection of reported crime data from police departments.

It is compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation by collecting and publishing the arrest data from over 17,000 police agencies in the United States.

These statistics are published annually and present the rates and volume of crime by offense type, based on arrests made by police.

The dataset includes a number of demographic variables to evaluate these crime statistics, including age, gender, race/ethnicity, location (state), and region (metropolitan, suburban, or rural).

UCR assesses crime changes:

The UCR data allow us to compare how crime changes over time, because it allows for the comparison of arrest data for a variety of crimes over a specific time frame or from one year to the next.

Data from the UCR findings are typically reported to the greater society through news media outlets and that form the basis for headline stories that proclaim the rising and falling rates of crime.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders (2 of 7)

UCR data contains reported crimes.

Victimization experiences underreported.

UCR collects data on certain crimes.

Revised definition of rape: FBI.

1.3. Discuss data sources for female offending and victimization rates.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders

UCR data contains reported crimes:

The data are dependent on both what police know about criminal activity and how they use their discretion in these cases.

Police cannot make an arrest if they are not a witness to a crime or are not called to deal with an offender.

Arrests are the key variable for UCR data, meaning that unreported crimes are not recognized in these statistics.

Victimization experiences underreported: Many of the victimization experiences of women, such as intimate partner abuse and sexual assault, are significantly underreported and therefore do not appear within the UCR data.

UCR collects data on certain crimes:

The classification of crime is organized into two different types of crime: Part 1 offenses and Part 2 offenses.

Part 1 offenses, known as index crimes, include eight different offenses: aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, robbery, arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.

However, these categories may have limited definitions that fail to capture the true extent of arrests made for these crimes.

Historically, the UCR defined forcible rape as “the carnal knowledge of a woman forcibly and against her will.”

The definition failed to capture the magnitude of sexual assaults, which may not involve women victims or may involve other sexual acts beyond vaginal penetration.

Revised definition of rape: FBI:

In January 2012, the FBI announced a revised definition for the crime of rape to include “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

The new law allows for both men and women to be identified as victims or offenders.

It also allows the UCR to include cases where the victim either was unable or unwilling to consent to sexual activity.

The new definition removes the requirement of force. As a result of these changes, the category of rape will now capture a greater diversity of sexual assaults.

With this change in how these sexually based offenses are counted, it is not possible to compare data on the number of these cases prior to 2012.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders (3 of 7)

Incomplete reporting of crimes.

Alterations with organization of data.

Fluctuation in participation by agencies.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

1.3. Discuss data sources for female offending and victimization rates.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders

Incomplete reporting of crimes:

The reporting of the crimes to the UCR is incomplete, because only the most serious crime is reported in cases where multiple crimes are committed during a single criminal event.

Several different offenses may occur within the context of a single crime incident.

For example, a crime involving physical battery, rape, and murder is reported to the UCR as murder.

As a result, the understanding of the prevalence of physical battery and rape is incomplete.

Alterations with organization of data:

The reporting of these data is organized annually, which can alter our understanding of crime as police agencies respond to cases.

For example, a homicide that is committed in one calendar year may not be solved with an arrest and conviction until the following calendar year.

This might initially be read as an “unsolved crime” in the first year but as an arrest in the subsequent year.

Fluctuation in participation by agencies:

The participation by agencies in reporting to the UCR has fluctuated over time.

Many states today have laws that direct law enforcement agencies to comply with UCR data collection.

The analyzers of crime trends over time need to take into consideration the number of agencies involved in the reporting of crime data.

Failure to take estimated population for each year into account could result in a flawed analysis of crime patterns over time.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS):

An incident-based system of crimes reported to the police.

The system is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of the annual Uniform Crime Reports.

The NIBRS catalog involves data on 22 offenses categories and includes 46 specific crimes known as Group A offenses.

It also collects data on 11 lesser offenses (Group B offenses).

NIBRS abolished the hierarchy rule that was part of the UCR, which involve more than one specific offense to be counted and not just the most serious event.

NIBRS data are collected on both completed as well as attempted crimes.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders (4 of 7)

Slow transition of agencies to NIBRS.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

Dark figure of crime.

Data on crime rates: NCVS.

1.3. Discuss data sources for female offending and victimization rates.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders

Slow transition of agencies to NIBRS:

As of October 31, 2020, 43 states were NIBRS certified and 8,742 agencies representing 48.9% of the population are reporting their data to NIBRS.

This is in comparison to more than 18,000 agencies who are eligible to report data to the UCR nationwide.

It is also limited to reported crimes.

While NIBRS was slated to be fully implemented with all agencies reporting to it by January 1, 2021, it is currently unknown as to whether this transition has been completed.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS):

Gathers additional data about crimes to help fill in the gap between reported and unreported crime.

It is also known as dark figure of crime.

It represents the largest victimization study conducted in the United States.

National-level victimization data were first collected as part of the Quarterly Household Survey conducted by the Census Bureau.

These efforts later evolved into the National Crime Survey (NCS), which was designed to supplement the data from UCR and provide data on crime from the victims’ perspective.

The NCS was transferred to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, where the bureau began to evaluate the survey instrument and the data collection process.

Following an extensive redesign process, the NCS was renamed the National Crime Victimization Survey in 1991

Dark figure of crime: crimes that are not reported to the police and therefore not represented in official crime statistics, such as the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Incident-Based Reporting System.

The NCVS gathers additional data about crimes committed and gives criminologists a greater understanding of the types of crimes committed and characteristics of the victims.

Based on these survey findings, the Bureau of Justice Statistics make generalizations to the population regarding the prevalence of victimization in the United States.

Data on crime rates: NCVS:

A crime rate compares the number of occurrences of a particular crime to the size of the total population.

The NCVS presents its findings in relation to how many instances of the crime per 1,000 people.

Regardless of changes to the population, crime rates make it easy to understand trends in criminal activity and victimization over time.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders (5 of 7)

Victimizations not reported to police.

National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS).

National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS).

1.3. Discuss data sources for female offending and victimization rates.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders

Victimizations not reported to police:

NCVS data also highlights that many victims do not report their victimizations to the police.

With only 40.9% of victims reporting violent crime and 32.5% of victims reporting property crime, the NCVS provides valuable insight about the dark figure of crime that varies by offense.

National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS):

A telephone survey of 8,000 men and 8,000 women in the United States (English and Spanish speaking) that was conducted by the Centers for Policy Research to measure the prevalence of violence against women.

It is the first comprehensive data assessment of violence against women for the crimes of intimate partner abuse, stalking, and sexual assault.

National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS):

An annual survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designed to measure the prevalence of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking.

It is also conducted by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

It reports victimization from a variety of crimes, including sexual assault, intimate partner abuse, and stalking.

These findings are then used to create estimates about the extent of crime throughout the United States.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders (6 of 7)

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) statistics.

UN-CTS.

1.3. Discuss data sources for female offending and victimization rates.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS):

ABS collects data on arrested individuals throughout Australia.

The ABS data cycle runs from July 1 to June 30.

In its 2019-2020 cycle, there were 374,645 individuals aged 10 and older processed by the police for eight different offenses (homicide, assault, sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping, unlawful entry with intent, motor vehicle theft, and other theft).

Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) statistics:

It is produced by Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany.

The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) statistics include data for all crimes handled by the police.

In 2019, of the 5,436,401 crimes reported to the police, 3,124,161 were considered “cleared” or solved.

Violent crime represents only 3.3% of crime in Germany.

The largest crime category is theft and represents 33.5% of all criminal offenses.

Out of 2,019,211 suspects, only 25% are women.

Men are also more likely to be victims (59.1%).

United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems:

UN-CTS compiles crime data from a variety of different sources, including the World Health Organization, Eurostat, and national police organizations from individual countries.

Their data indicate that there were 42,106 global victims of homicide reported to the police in 2017 across 31 countries.

90.6% of victims were men.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders (7 of 7)

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).

Data sources as part of research.

1.3. Discuss data sources for female offending and victimization rates.

Data Sources on Women as Victims and Offenders

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW):

It is administered to a random sample of households and is designed to develop estimates about the rate of crime and victimization in England and Wales.

It first began as part of the British Crime Survey in 1984 and included data from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The CSEW attempts to shed light on the dark figure of crime by capturing victimizations that may not be reported to the police.

In 2013, the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that there were approximately 11.7 million incidents of victimization.

Approximately half of these crimes (5.7 million) were reported to the police.

Data sources as part of research:

These data typically focus on a particular crime within a particular region.

The data can be either quantitative or qualitative (or both) and represent either a snapshot in time or follow a group of individuals over a range of time (longitudinal studies).

While the findings of these studies are often not generalizable to the masses, they provide valuable insight about victimization and offending.

The Contributions of Feminist Methodology to Research on Women, Gender, and Crime (1 of 2)

Criticisms of traditional criminology.

Influence of feminism.

Feminist research methods.

Qualitative nature of feminist methods.

1.4. Explain the contributions of feminist methodologies for understanding issues about women, gender, and crime.

The Contributions of Feminist Methodology to Research on Women, Gender, and Crime

Criticisms of traditional criminology:

Traditional perspectives on crime fail to recognize the intricate details of what it means to be a woman in society.

The feminist movement has had a significant effect on how we understand women and their relationships with crime.

The methods by which we conduct research on gender have also evolved.

Influence of feminism:

The influence of feminism can alter the ways in which we conduct research, evaluate data, and make conclusions based on the findings yielded from the research experience.

By incorporating a feminist perspective to the research environment, scholars are able to present a deeper understanding of the realities of women’s lives by placing women and women’s issues at the center of the research process.

Feminist research methods:

Process of gathering research that involves placing gender at the center of the conversation, giving women a voice, and changing the relationship between the researcher and the subject to one of care and concern versus objectivity.

From the conceptualization of the research question to a discussion of which methods of data collection will be utilized and how the data will be analyzed, feminist methods engage in practices that are contrary to the traditional research paradigms.

The use of feminist methods requires a paradigm shift from what is traditionally known as research.

Feminist methodology does not dictate that the gender of the research participant or researcher be a woman.

The philosophy of this method refers to the types of data a researcher is seeking and the process by which data are obtained.

Qualitative nature of feminist methods:

They allow for emotions and values to be present as part of the research process.

Some feminist methodologists have criticized the process by which data are often quantified, while others argue that quantitative data have a role to play within a feminist context.

The influence of feminism allows for researchers to collect data from a subject that is theoretically important for their research versus data that are easily categorized.

The Contributions of Feminist Methodology to Research on Women, Gender, and Crime (2 of 2)

Five basic principles.

Study of women in criminal justice system.

Yield of quantitative methods.

Tools applicable in criminological topics.

1.4. Explain the contributions of feminist methodologies for understanding issues about women, gender, and crime.

The Contributions of Feminist Methodology to Research on Women, Gender, and Crime

Five basic principles:

Acknowledging the influence of gender in society as a whole (and inclusive of the research process);

Challenging the traditional relationship between the researcher and the subject and its link to scientific research and the validity of findings;

Engaging in consciousness raising about the realities of women’s lives as part of the methodological process;

Empowering women within a patriarchal society through their participation in research; and

An awareness by the researcher of the ethical costs of the research process and a need to protect their subjects.

Study of women in criminal justice system:

Feminist methodologies allows researchers to explore the issues that women face as victims and offenders.

It also provides the opportunity for the researchers to delve into their topics.

For example, a simple survey question might inquire about whether an incarcerated woman has ever been victimized.

Traditional methods may underestimate the extent and nature of the victimization because the women may not understand the question or identify their experiences in this way.

Feminist methodologies allow not only for the exploration of these issues at a deeper level, but they also allow for scholars to develop an understanding of the multifaceted effects of these experiences.

Yield of quantitative methods:

Despite large employment of qualitative tactics, the use of feminist methods does not exclude the use of quantitative methods.

Quantitative methods can yield valuable data on the experiences of women such as information on the presence of gender discrimination, such as the sexual harassment among women in policing.

Legislators often make use of quantitative data and statistics when developing policies.

Researchers who study issues of women and crime can benefit from the lessons of feminist methodologies in their use of both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Tools applicable in criminological topics:

Feminist methods are not limited to issues of gender.

By recognizing from the outset, the class, racial, and gendered structures of oppression, this method gives voice to the larger structural processes that shape the unnoticed experiences.

This method provides a framework for building trust with participants who may be unsure about the research process and creates opportunities for understanding individuals and groups.