Feminist Explanations of Crime and Gender Patterns
Official statistics have consistently recorded far more male offenders than female offenders, and feminist sociologists have developed explanations for both this gender gap and the way the criminal justice system treats women.
Method
- State the pattern the question is about precisely: official statistics record far more male than female offenders, and this gap is what each theory tries to explain.
- Explain Pollak's chivalry thesis by name: he argued the police, courts and juries, being predominantly male, treat female offenders more leniently, so women are less likely to be reported, charged, prosecuted or given a custodial sentence for a comparable offence, which makes recorded female crime look lower than actual female offending.
- Explain Heidensohn's alternative, a feminist control theory, by name: she argued women commit less crime because they are subject to greater informal control at home (domestic responsibilities), in public (fear of male violence restricting freedom of movement) and at work (closer supervision and fewer opportunities for white-collar crime), giving women fewer real opportunities to offend rather than just being treated more leniently.
- Bring in Pat Carlen's study of working-class women offenders as supporting evidence: she found women's conformity depended on receiving a 'class deal' (material rewards for legitimate work) and a 'gender deal' (rewards for a traditional domestic role), and that women were more likely to offend once they felt these deals had broken down.
- Use Carol Smart's feminist critique of 'malestream' criminology to explain why gendered explanations of crime were historically underdeveloped, since traditional criminology largely assumed the offender was male.
- For evaluation, weigh chivalry against control theory directly: chivalry explains a recording gap (statistics understate real female offending), while control theory explains an actual behavioural gap (women really do have fewer opportunities to offend), and note evidence that chivalry may not apply when women offend against gender norms, e.g. with violence.
- For a 12-mark 'discuss' question, structure arguments for and against the named claim, use both Pollak and Heidensohn (or Carlen) as competing named evidence, and reach a conclusion that states which explanation the evidence supports more strongly.
Worked example
A tutor group is told that, in officially recorded crime, men significantly outnumber women as offenders. One student says this must mean men really do commit far more crime than women. Use the chivalry thesis to explain why a sociologist might question this conclusion.
- Identify the assumption in the student's claim: that official statistics give an accurate picture of how much crime women actually commit compared with men.
- Introduce Pollak's chivalry thesis: he argued that a predominantly male criminal justice system treats female offenders more leniently at each stage of the process.
- Apply this to the statistics: if women are less likely to be reported, arrested, charged or given a custodial sentence than men for a similar offence, then recorded female crime will understate the true amount of crime women commit.
- Explain the consequence for the student's conclusion: the gender gap in official statistics may partly reflect differential treatment by the criminal justice system rather than purely a real difference in male and female offending behaviour.
- Add a balancing point: this does not mean the whole gap is due to chivalry, since other explanations, such as Heidensohn's argument that women have fewer real opportunities to offend, may also account for part of the pattern.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What is the 'chivalry thesis'?Show answer
Answer: Otto Pollak's argument that the criminal justice system, being predominantly male, treats female offenders more leniently than male offenders at each stage of the process, so female crime is under-recorded relative to actual offending.
Q2According to Frances Heidensohn's control theory, why do women commit less crime than men?Show answer
Answer: Because patriarchal society subjects women to greater informal control at home, in public (e.g. fear of male violence restricting movement) and at work, giving them fewer real opportunities to offend.
Q3What are the two 'deals' Pat Carlen identified in her study of working-class women offenders?Show answer
Answer: The class deal, material rewards for working within the legitimate class structure, and the gender deal, rewards for conforming to a traditional domestic and family role.
Q4What did Carol Smart criticise mainstream, 'malestream', criminology for?Show answer
Answer: For historically focusing almost entirely on male offenders and largely ignoring women's experiences of both offending and victimisation.
Q5Give one reason Heidensohn suggests women have fewer opportunities to commit white-collar crime at work.Show answer
Answer: Women are more likely to be closely supervised and to face barriers, such as a 'glass ceiling', that limit their access to the higher-status positions where white-collar crime is easiest to commit.
Q6Explain why the chivalry thesis and control theory offer different types of explanation for the gender gap in recorded crime.Show answer
Answer: The chivalry thesis explains a recording gap, i.e. it argues real female offending is similar but under-recorded, while control theory explains a behavioural gap, i.e. it argues women genuinely offend less because they have fewer opportunities.
Q7Give one criticism of the chivalry thesis.Show answer
Answer: Evidence suggests women who commit offences that break strong gender norms, such as violent crime, are sometimes treated more harshly rather than more leniently by the courts, which challenges the idea that women are always treated with chivalry.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two reasons why official statistics might understate the true amount of crime committed by women.
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Explain, using sociological evidence, why women commit less recorded crime than men.
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Discuss how far sociologists would agree that the chivalry thesis explains why women are recorded as committing less crime than men.
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See real GCSE Sociology past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
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