Feminist Theory

The Gender Ratio

The “Feminization of Crime”
The Generalization Problem
 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”
 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
• Adler’s “Women’s Lib” hypothesis
– You’ve come a long way baby, but you still
commit “traditional” female crimes
 Explaining the Gender Gap
• Can Mainstream Theory Explain the
Gender Gap?

Gender Crime/Delinquency

Mainstream Theory
Variables
 Example of Study: Jensen (2001)

Gender Delinquency

Deterrence
Self-Concept/Sex Roles
Antisocial Attitudes
Maternal Controls
Delinquent Peers
 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
 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
Factors Unique Female Offending?
• Gender Roles
• Physical Maturity
– Caspi et al = Delinquent Peers x early
Maturity
• Sexual abuse
• Self-esteem
 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
 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