Feminist Perspective on Crime & Deviance (AQA GCSE Sociology)

The feminist approach to crime and deviance

• Sociologists started studying the role of women in crime and deviance in the 1970s

• When examining the treatment of female offenders in the criminal justice system (CJS), feminist sociologists have produced two views:

  • The chivalry thesis suggests that female offenders are treated more leniently than men, e.g., when sentenced in court

  • The double deviance thesis suggests that the CJS treats some women more harshly than others (particularly those who do deviate from gender stereotypes)

• Feminist perspectives also examine the ways women are victimised in society

  • They question why domestic violence and sex crimes are underreported to the police

Key thinker: Heidensohn (1985) The control of women

• Writing from a feminist perspective, Heidensohn (1985) used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to understand women's experience of crime

  • She drew upon secondary sources, such as official crime statistics and previous research conducted by other sociologists

  • She also collected primary data in the form of interviews to get personal insight into women's experience of crime and the CJS

• Heidensohn's control theory explains why women have a lower rate of officially recorded crime than men:

  • Girls and women have fewer opportunities to commit crimes as they are controlled by men in different spheres of public life (e.g., at home, in public and in the workplace)

  • In a patriarchal society, public life is seen as a man's sphere and the home is seen as a woman's place so it is harder for women to break the law

• Heidensohn argues that women are constrained and controlled at home, in public and at work

  • Control of women at home

    • Domestic life and marriage control women to ensure that they conform

    • Women's opportunities to commit crimes are limited as their time is taken up by housework and monitoring others

    • Men, as the main or sole breadwinner, have financial power over their wives

    • Daughters don't have as much freedom as sons and are expected to stay closer to home

    • Working-class girls are expected to contribute more time to housework and childcare

    • Women and girls who challenge these assumptions risk male violence

  • Control of women in public

    • Women's behaviour in public is controlled by the threat of male violence

    • This fear controls their behaviour by preventing them from going out after dark

    • Women are controlled by the idea that inappropriate behaviour may bring a loss of reputation and shame upon their families

  • Control of women in work

    • Men hold power and authority over women as managers so women are controlled by male-dominated hierarchies

    • Intimidation by sexual harassment is a form of male control over women so their freedom in the workplace is limited

Criticisms

• Critics argue that Heidensohn's research findings make generalisations that do not apply to all women

  • She overlooked the impact of other factors, such as ethnicity, class and age

  • Applying her findings to non-Western cultures isn't possible, as gender roles and the CJS may be very different

• Her claims have not always been supported with strong research-based evidence

  • She failed to make comparisons with men's criminality

• Heidensohn's control theory underplays the importance of women's free will and choice in offending