theories of female criminality

The third wave of feminism evolved around the late 1980s into the 1990s. Relying on qualitative data, Miller highlights how female gang members navigate risk within and outside of their gangs, establishing that some behaviors (i.e., abstaining from criminal activity) may be protective against violence from rival gangs while simultaneously placing females at risk of victimization by their fellow gang members. Lombroso (1920) offered a biological explanation for female criminality. This wave of The universality of this fact is really quite remarkable, even though many tend to take it for granted. Women´s crimes not only broke the criminal law but were viewed as acts of deviance from the ´norm´ of femininity.” Biological theories (Cesare Lombroso, 1903) The most investigated "difference" between the sexes was biological. The main intent of the study is to review the major theories of female criminality such as masculinization, opportunity, marginalization and chivalry. Between 1990 and 1996, state courts reported that the number of convicted female defendants grew at 2 1/2 times the rate of increase for male defendants. Women criminals were judged against a highly artificial notion of the ideal woman – an exemplary moral being. Previously, female offenders were an object of curiosity, often understood and treated as an aberration to their sex. The theories include: Biological, Mertonian Strain, Social Control, and Labeling. Many scientist throughout history have debated and tossed around several often seemingly outrageous theories about what it is in the female subconscious that drives them to commit crime, Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychoanalysis, once suggested that females commit crimes as a result of a phenomenon called “penis envy”. However, in recent years female criminality has spread into more areas. In predicting future trends of increasing female crime, the Opportunity Theory developed by Cloward and Ohlin is often cited.12 The theory, which Women and Crime 141 . She emphasized the descriptions of different dimensions of female criminality, that is-type, nature and also the corrective role of jail and court in this regard. Women had not advanced as far along the evolutionary continuum as males. employed as clerks in banks so this lead to women committing bank fraud. This distinction holds throughout history, for all societies, for all groups, and for nearly every crime category. Traditional theories of female crime dichotomized women into “either-or” roles in terms of sexuality. offenders are represented. The norms and values associated with traditional femininity are not conducive to crime, while the norms and values associated with traditional masculinity are more likely to lead to crime. Explaining lower female crime rates: biological theories. Various theories about crime have been propounded from time to time but only a few among them have dealt with female criminality. We will first review the old theories about female crime like those of Lombroso, Freud, Kingsley Davis, and Otto Pollak before examining the recent ones. The authors also tried to shed light on the acceptability and validity of female Scarce attention has been paid to how eco-nomic, social, and political forces pressure women into committing crimes (Klein, 1995, p. 31). With respect to the second question, it is argued that several types of strain may lead to female crime under the proper circumstances. At the same time, major sociological explanations of crime (differential association, anomie, social disorganization) were emphasizing social and cultural factors that could account for female as well as male criminality. One cannot read any textbook related to theories of female criminality without encountering at least a brief mention of the criminological pioneer Cesare Lombroso, whose work, in particular 'The Female Offender'[14], made specific mention of female criminals for perhaps the first time. Applying Theories of Female Criminality 861 Words | 3 Pages. Try 6 issues of BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed for only £9.99. This included women as professionals as well as women as offenders and victims. According to Adler (1975) and Simon (1975), women have lacked opportunities to break the law, and if given such opportunities, they would act just like men (as cited in DeKeseredy, 2000, p. 80). Later writings on female crime by Thomas, Davis, Pollak and others use more sophisticated methodol-ogies and may proffer more palatable liberal theories. Do gender-neutral or gender-specific theories hold the most explanatory promise? This biological theory of female criminal behaviour being of sexual deviance is the most traditional and still commonly thought in relation to female crime, the main being prostitution. Applying Theories of Female Criminality? Applying Theories of Female Criminality The paper will reference the Seabrook Dissertation Chapter 2 & "An Exploration of the Violent Victim Experiences of Female Offenders" to address the following hypothetical situation: devise a program or a plan for a women's shelter to … Second, we review the “gender equality hypothesis” as well as several recent developments in theorizing about gender differences in crime. Adler describes her theory with the utilization of two ladders. However, to vary- The changing nature of female’s roles in capitalist system instigate female more to involve in violent and property crimes. a. b. “[U]p to the mid-nineteenth century the predominant approach to female criminality was moralistic. As a consequence of the women’s movement, female offenders and, in particular, female victims of male violence, moved front-and-center in the field of criminology. In criticizing early theories of female criminality, what did Heidensohn suggest? If existing theories for males were not relevant for females, theories of female criminality such as masculinization, opportunity, marginalization and chivalry. Could we examine ‘adult female crime’ in terms of factors offered for explaining ‘delinquency in young or adolescent girls’? Beginning with the biological theory of Lombroso (1898), elaborated in the psychological theory of Freud (1905, 1931, 1933), and modernized in the contemporary theory that women‟s liberation causes female crime, a theoretical perspective has developed which claim that female crime is product of the masculinization of female behavior. Feminist Theory of Violence 47 wide range of offenses at an unprecedented rate. 37. Furthermore, it was Smart (1976) that provided the first critique of the absenceofwomen’soffendingwithinmainstream ... vance of boys’ and men’s theories of criminality for offending by girls and women. Lombroso's work on female criminality (1920) is important to consider today despite the fact that his methodology and conclusions have long been successfully discredited. One ladder is The changing nature of female’s roles in capitalist system instigate female more to involve in violent and property crimes. Female criminality has been theoretically stated as complicated; less understood and subject to easy control. It is the view of the feminist school of criminology that a majority of criminological theories were developed through studies on male subjects and focused on male criminality, and that criminologists often would "add women and stir" rather than develop separate theories on female criminality. GENDER AND CRIME Gender is the single best predictor of criminal behavior: men commit more crime, and women commit less. was developed to explain youth gang behavior, is an application of anomie theory and holds that lower class youths are … The feminist school of criminology emphasizes that the social roles of women are different from the roles of men, leading to different pathways toward deviance, crime, and victimization that are overlooked by other criminological theories. Another feminist theory that addresses female criminality is Women’s Liberation/Emancipation. The main intent of the study is to review the major theories of female criminality such as … '8 The Bureau of Justice reported that: "For every category of major crime for the period of 1990 to 1996- Women who did not achieve this developmental would, as adults, continue to rebel against their true female nature by adopting typical male behaviors such as violence and crime. Psychological explanations of crime emerged as psychological theories gained prominence. Comparisons between different theories of Female Criminality Theory Major Proponents and Works Major Premise Strengths Weakness Masculinization theory Freda Adler: Sister in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminals (1975) Criminalities of women are mainly depended on the masculinity behavior of female. Applying Theories of Female Criminality 861 Words | 3 Pages. Labelling theory or British subcultural theory which looks at white working class males did not have much to say about female crime. Sex Role Theory explains gendered differences in offending in terms of the differences in gender socialization, gender roles and gendered identities. Her theory indicates female criminal activity is based on access and opportunity. In criminological research and its related literature there are four theoretical traditions of female criminality and its causation: (i) Masculinity Theories, (ii) Opportunity theories, (iii) Marginalization theories, and (iv) Chivalry theory (Islam and Khatun:2013). In this area, GST has much in common with numerous accounts that explain female crime in terms of oppression. While sig-nificant research, Alder argues that her theory "Opportunity theory" theory of female criminality is developed by Rita J. Simon (1975) in the book Women and Crime. Lombroso and the origins of modern criminology. Female offenders remain invisible in classical criminology as well as in subcultural or control theories in contrast with early biological theories. Applying Theories of Female Criminality The paper will reference the Seabrook Dissertation Chapter 2 & "An Exploration of the Violent Victim Experiences of Female Offenders" to address the following hypothetical situation: devise a program or a plan for a women's shelter to … In fact it has risen so much so that in some crimes females where found to outnumber men. Rationale There is several literature of female criminality where female delinquency is described in different perspective and the cause of female criminality is discussed. Biological Theories explain the higher rates of crime in terms of biological differences between males and females. She provides an analogy of the law abiding female (legitimate) and the criminal female (illegitimate) (Adler, 2002). Applying Theories of Female Criminality? The social environment contributes a lot to the making of women criminals. (Table-01 Chivalry is myth and hidden discourse. all the socially responsible scholars to focus on root cause of female turning to criminal activities in larger numbers. Cesare Lombroso (1895) deemed females on the whole to be undeveloped, and he described female crime by the fact that female criminals were lacking the usual characteristics innate to them and therefore displayed more masculine characteristics. Each theory is discussed in depth to provide a thorough critique of whether a woman’s criminality is explained and if that theory holds true. Which of the following is NOT one of the grounds on which Heidensohn criticized early theories of female criminality. Table of Contents show What is Feminist Criminology? Which of the following does NOT characterize early theories of female criminality? The authors also tried to shed… context, within these emerging political perspectives, that feminist criminology began to question assumptions and stereotypes concerning women in criminal justice. Key to this is the gendered pathways to crime approach, which I will explore below.