Feminist Theory

1
Feminist Theory

• The Gender Ratio
• The Feminization of Crime
• The Generalization Problem

2
The Gender Gap or Ratio

• Males dominate Criminal Offending
• UCR data
• Total Offending Male to Female is 3.5 to 1
• Serious Violent Male to Female is 5 to 1
• Relationship holds for self-report data, over
  time, across societies
• One exception is for juvenile status offenses

3
Is the gender gap shrinking?

• Yes and No
• Yes
• The gender gap has shrunk a little bit, but still
  very large
• increase in female offending is misleading
• b/c small base rate, minor increases are
  amplified
• Adlers Womens Lib hypothesis
• Youve come a long way baby, but you still commit
  traditional female crimes

4
Explaining the Gender Gap

• Can Mainstream Theory Explain the Gender Gap?
• Gender Crime/Delinquency
• Mainstream Theory
• Variables

5
Example of Study Jensen (2001)

• Gender Delinquency
• Deterrence
• Self-Concept/Sex Roles
• Antisocial Attitudes
• Maternal Controls
• Delinquent Peers

6
And the winners are

• Antisocial Attitudes
• Delinquent Peers
• Gender Roles
• Combination of these three knocks gender out of
  the picture
• Or, controlling for these factors, gender no
  longer predicts delinquency

7
The Generalizibility Issue

• Patriarchal society?Males also dominate
  criminological theorizing
• Are males biased in their perspective?
• Traditional image of females as good
• If delinqeunt or criminal pathology
• Tests of delinquency based on males?
• Can male theories of crime explain female
  delinquency?
• Similar questions have been raised regarding
  intervention/treatment

8
Factors Unique Female Offending?

• Gender Roles
• Physical Maturity
• Caspi et al Delinquent Peers x early Maturity
• Sexual abuse
• Self-esteem

9
What is the evidence?

• Many mainstream theories have been tested on
  females
• Most predict female offending as well as male
  offending
• Some (control theories) predict female offending
  better than male offending
• Could we still do better?
• Feminist theories of crime

10
Other Feminist Concerns

• The Corrections System
• 1 prison per state
• Treatment programs
• Few available, geared towards male, stereotypical
  
• Still belief in pathology
• Women much more likely to be medicated
• Issues of pregnancy and children