Gender Analysis of CrimeViolence

1
Gender Analysis of Crime/Violence

• Miller Up It Up Feminist Theories of Crime
  Robbery as a Case Study (PS 3)
• 2 Levels of Analysis
• Structural Stratification of status and
  opportunity on the street
• Interactional The routine practice of Doing
  gender ? Masculinity Femininity
  (Messerschmidt) are reproduced in interaction
  process
• Motives and Causes are distinct What does this
  mean?
• Example of a motive?
• Example of a causes of robbery?

2
Gender Analysis of Crime

• Miller Up It Up Feminist Theories of Crime
  Robbery as a Case Study (PS 3)
• Main Finding
• The accomplishment of robbery reflects the
  structure and process required by gender.
• Implication 1 Gender influences the pattern and
  nature of criminal behavior
• Implication 2 The requirements of the criminal
  act may be achieved in ways that reflect gendered
  strategies for doing crime
• Question 1 How is gender useful in understanding
  how mugging is accomplished by men?
• Question 2 Are female muggers doing femininity
  or masculinity? What are the implications of
  your answer?

3
Gender Analysis of Female Crime

• Maher A Reserve Army Women and the Drug Market
  (PS7)
• Context Crack Era War on Drugs
• Changes in Drug Control Policy
• Changes in Drug Markets
• Increased violence (peaks nationwide in 1994)
• Business is service-oriented (retail)
• Create and maintain demand for drugs
• Supply products that meets this demand
• Also offers auxillary services related to
  drugs/lifestyle
• Business is basically Distribution (think
  Wal-Mart)
• Violence is a business tool
• Required for accountability legitimacy in
  underworld
• Combined with assumptions about gender meant
  that ? are seen as unreliable, untrustworthy,
  risky for business
• Consequences for underworld employment?

4
Gender Analysis of Female Crime

• Maher Women and the Drug Market (PS7)
• Gender Stratification of underworld
  opportunities
• Pink collar, Blue collar and White collar work in
  the crack market?
• Services/Positions offered in the Business
• Job ladders What is a reserve army?

5
Steffensmeiers Feminist Theory of Crime
6
Gender Gangs

• Gangs are appearing in more places (gt1000)
• Economic Conditions (deindustrialization,
  unemploy., pov.)
• Diffusion of Gang Culture (copycat phenomena)
• Traditional views
• ? Groups
• Info on ? participation gained from ? gang
  members
• Prevalence of ? membership?
• 20-40 of gang members
• Gender composition of gangs
• 5 all ? 60 mixed (? dominated) 35 auxillary
  groups

7
Gender Gangs

• Reasons ? become gang members?
• Social Context (high crime, economic
  disadvantage)
• Gangs provide adaptation skills to community
  conditions
• Exposure to gangs in underclass neighborhoods is
  high
• Family factors
• Gang involved relatives
• Family violence
• gangs provide some refuge from violent family
• Source of meaningful relationships, bonding, etc.
• Peers
• Status, companionship, excitement, protection,
  belonging
• Popularity, recognition

8
Gender Gangs

• Life in the gang?
• Enhancement effects of gang membership Delinquenc
  y
• Drug use
• ? members less involved than ? members
• But
• ? members more involved than non-gang ? ?
• Gender Stratification status opportunity tied
  to gender
• violence
• serious theft
• drug deals (buys)

9
Gender Gangs

• Consequences of membership for ??
• Ambivalence about delinquent aspect of gang
• Inconsistent with expectations for femininity
• Sanctions for gender violations
• results in a Double Bind
• deviant enough for gang member
• not too deviant for being a girl
• Gender Inequality
• Objectification of ? (dating, sexing in, etc.)
• Victimization by homies
• Exiting
• ? membership more likely to be adolescent limited
• Childbirth has gendered consequences

10
Entanglement of Agency, Violence law in the
lives of Sexworkers (ER8)

• Most marginalized of all humans?
• Theories of gender and crime must account for
  sexworkers experiences.
• Question
• Sexworkers agents (offenders) or victims?
• False dichotomy prostitution is a practice that
  is actively pursuit of sexual exchanges routine
  subjection to violence and other victimization

11
Entanglement of Agency, Violence law in the
lives of Sexworkers

• Separate spheres criminalization of ? presence
  in the public sphere subordination in the
  private sexwork linked to urbanization
• Criminalization never sought to eliminate sexwork
  - ? demand combined with moral crusades push it
  to the margins of society
• Prostitute identity
• Inferred from presence, appearance, cjs contact
• Absent from customers experiences

12
Entanglement of Agency, Violence law in the
lives of Sexworkers

• The law defines some forms of violence as
  criminal and ignores/supports others the
  public/private distinction illuminates this
  pattern
• Law does not recognize violence as criminal when
  victims are located in the private sphere
• Law is also concerned with regulating sexual
  morality
• This combination results in the non-criminal
  character of violence against women, and
  especially prostitutes
• The law assumes that to be a victim, one must be
  innocent. Known prostitutes are not innocent.

13
Entanglement of Agency, Violence law in the
lives of Sexworkers

• Social Context
• Economic
• Drugs and crime
• AOD use is important, but cause/effect is ?
• Family contexts (victimization)
• Copresent character of starting and continuing
• ? encouragement
• Negotiation (rather than an individual rational
  choice)
• Significance of power dynamics in negotiation
• Sexwork is not a free choice, but a way to get
  by
• Negotiations are based on conflict violence