Linking Crime and Gender

Gender and Crime

 

Should gender be taking into consideration when convicting a criminal?

 

 

Heidensohn (1985) suggests that women are treated more harshly when they deviate from societal norms of female sexuality. In Heidensohn’s own words; “The majority of British born women who go to prison in England, Wales and Scotland are less likely to be sentenced for the seriousness of their crimes and more according to the court’s assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters” (Heidensohn, 1997 as cited in Haralambos and Holborn, 2004, pg 386).

 

Another feminist Otto Pollak (1950) would agree highlighting how the police and other law enforcement officials tend to be men therefore are usually more lenient with women so this is why less women appear in crime statistics. Pollak also argues that some women are more deviant than they appear but are protected by a 'chivalry factor'.

 

Hillary Allen (1987) argues that court officials are more likely to ask for psychological reports to carried out on female offenders in the search for and underlying psychological problem. As Allen points out this is only disadvantaging women more and encouraging society to continue to reinforce sexist ideologies. However in contrast to these points Eileen Leonard (1982) argues that women are sometimes treated more harshly compared to some men due to society portraying them as 'doubly deviant'.

 

Official statistics from 2011/12 show that women commit far fewer crimes than men, with only 468 females being in prison which is 5.7 % of the prison population, these figures have increased since 2002/03. Heidensohn suggests then that the question we should be asking is not why some women commit crime but rather why women are not so criminal? The three aspects that Heidensohn looks at are: biological theory, sex-role theory and transgression. Furthermore Heidensohn suggests that the reason women commit less crimes is because of the way in which they are ideologically controlled. In other words society expects women to behave of a loving and caring nature therefore most women try and live up to this expectation.

 

 

 

For further reading:

Investigating Crime and Deviance by Stephen Moore

Sociology Themes and Perspectives by Haralambos and Holborn

http://www.sociology.org.uk/pblsdcg.pdf

Linking Crime and Social Environment

This blog is going to focus on the causation of crime from a social and environmental perspective which takes the blame away from the individual.

Sociologists believe that people's behaviour can be influenced by the social structure and social groups in which they live in. The Chicago School Theory highlights how the issue of space in a city can result in overcrowding and therefore poverty and delinquency. The theory concluded that the neighbourhoods that experienced high delinquency rates also experienced social disorganisation. In other words there was a lack of control over the behaviour in that area and actually delinquent behaviour is sometimes approved by the people in the neighbourhood. The psychologist Bandura would link this type of learnt behaviour to his Social Learning Theory suggesting children will learn delinquent behaviour from their immediate family and friends and copy it. (A link to Bandura's experiment is below for further reading).

Robert Merton (1938) also suggests that deviant behaviour can result from the culture and structure of society. He looks at how in the USA people strive for the 'American Dream' which is largely measured in terms of peoples wealth and material possessions.

Merton argues how the American Dream has to be achieved through effort and talent however in reality there is an inequality of opportunity for people from working class and poorer backgrounds. This can therefore result in an unbalanced society where people may respond in different ways: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Crime and deviance happens therefore as a way of the poorer people rejecting the 'American Dream.

Although Merton's study focused on America many sociologists such as Reiner (1994) have suggested his theory can be adapted to explain crime in other meritocratic countries. However Taylor (1971) argues that Merton fails to consider wider power relations in society. Cohen (1955) adapted Merton's work adding that lower working class boys adopt a delinquent subculture because they failed their education and are stuck in dead end jobs therefore they strive for high status elsewhere like becoming a member of a gang. Therefore I can be suggested that social environment can be a result of deviant behaviour.


For further reading:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html
https://misssrobinson.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/merton-and-the-americal-dream/

Linking Personality and Criminal behaviour

Hans Eysenck's Personality Theory:

Hans Eysenck (1964), developed a personality theory which he continued to develop all throughout his career. At first he identified two dimensions of the personality which are known as; extraversion and Neuroticism. He later linked his personality theory to criminal behaviour which is when he introduced the third dimension called psychoticism which he believed was genetically determined. Here is a diagram of his theory:

When evaluating Eysenck's theory Howitt (2009) points out how this test helps identify that rapists and child abusers are extravert, neurotic and psychotic however it doesn't identify why they carry out these criminal acts. On the other hand it must be highlighted that Han's theory can be used in helping prevent individuals from developing into offenders as if someone scores high on P, E and N they are more likely to be a criminal and therefore practices can be put in place to help prevent this such as parenting interventions and early treatment. 

As well as biological factors there is also environmental factors that should be taking into account when discussing criminal behaviour. John Bowlby (1944) studied the effects on children when they were separated from their mothers. He took 44 children that were described as 'thieves' between the ages of 5 and 17 years and a further 44 children as a control group. Bowlby found that out of the 14 'affectionless' thieves 12 of them had early experiences of frequent separations from their mothers. Therefore it can be concluded that the children may not have became offenders if they had not suffered harmful experiences during development. Moreover Bowlbys's study helps identify how environmental factors can play a key role in the developmental of offenders. If a person has both personality traits and are in an environment that triggers offending behaviour such as being separated from their mother then this person is more than likely to become a criminal as they have suffered from both genetic and environmental factors.  

For further reading on this fascinating subject:
Psychology Review
http://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-theories.html
Psychology The Science of Mind and Behaviour by Richard Gross
Oxford Handbook of Criminology by Reiner and Martin

Linking Brain Injuries and Criminals

It has been suggested that there is a link between certain brain activity and anti-social behaviour (Robert Hare, 1986 as cited in Muir, 2015). Hare is famous for work with psychopaths and sociopaths finding a link between psychopaths and risk taking behaviour.

Damage to the limbic system and the temporal lobe have been identified as resulting in criminal behaviour. The limbic system controls our memory, emotions, and parental and social instincts. Furthermore, the temporal lobe is one of the easiest parts of the brain to damage through knocks to the head, car accidents and internal, resulting in violent behaviour. Studies such as Lewis et al (1986) support this information by finding that all fifteen of the participants suffered head injuries prior to prison.

However the effects of a brain injury can vary from individual to individual with minor injuries resulting in the person possibly suffering from concussion, dizziness and headaches. More severe brain injuries may cause a person to suffer from dramatic mood, personality changes, loss of executive functioning and poor judgement.

Many serial killers have suffered a head trauma or injury during childhood or at birth such as Leonard Lake, Ted Bundy, Bobby Joe Long and Fred West. In particular Fred west suffered injuries to his frontal lobe during a road accident which is thought to be the cause of his sexual appetite and violent behaviour.

More locally 21, 217 people in Scotland suffered a head injury in 2013/14, suggesting that someone has trauma to the head every ninety minutes. The Acquired brain injury service in the Angus area helps people physically, cognitively and emotionally after a brain injury.

For more in-depth information please read the following;
Muir, F., 2015. Brain Injuries. [lecture notes]. Dundee and Angus College, Criminology, 09 December 2015.
Peat, R., 2007. Acquired brain injury. unpublished.