Transcript Crime and gender - Clydebank High School

Crime and gender
The Statistics
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Males commit most crime – 4 in 5 offenders are male
Men outnumber women in all major crime categories
85 – 95% of those found guilty of burglary, robbery,
drug offences, criminal damage and violence are
male
98% of sexual offences are committed by males
Theft is the most commonly committed offence by
both men and women
The Statistics (contd)
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57% of female offenders found guilty or
cautioned for theft / handling of stolen
goods compared with 34% of men
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Men are four times more likely to be the
victims of violent crime than women.
Domestic violence is the only category where
the risk is higher for women than men.
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Why?
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Opportunity for crime
Primary and secondary socialisation
Policing / judicial System
Social visibility / lifestyle factors
Opportunity for crime
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Women are involved in a wide range of crime
Where women have similar opportunities for crime
as men, the pattern of crimes they commit are
broadly similar
Where opportunities are similar, women are just as
likely to offend as men
It is when the opportunities for crime are different
that the pattern of offending is different, e.g.…….
Different opportunities, different crime
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Burglary tends to be solitary and at night. Lone
women at night more likely to draw attention / prone
to danger
Work – related opportunities:
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Fewer women work than men
Fewer are in powerful positions (white collar crime)
More likely to be closely scrutinised
Women more likely to have child care responsibilities
Primary / secondary socialisation
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Males ‘prompted’ to be more aggressive than
females. Females ‘prompted’ to be non-aggressive.
Peer culture: boys – gangs, ‘street’, girls ‘indoors’
Male socialisation encourages active individualistic
behaviour. Female, passive, sharing/ caring
Expectations on male as “breadwinner” and females
as “carers”
Serious organised crime – offenders likely to view
women in stereotypical way – emotional, illogical etc.
Police and courts
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The self-fulfilling prophecy: police ‘expect’ males to commit
more crime so police them more closely therefore detecting
more crime
Men more likely to be on the street at night so attracting more
police attention
Police and courts stereotype male/ female roles therefore less
likely to punish females – the “chivalry factor”
Police and judiciary are still male dominated. See female crime
as ‘symptom’ of women needing help rather than punishment
Much female crime is petty / non-violent (shoplifting /
prostitution)
Social Visibility / lifestyle
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Women are far more likely to be victims of
‘unseen’ crimes – domestic violence
Male crimes often involve a clear victim and
therefore more likely to be witnessed
Men are more likely to be out at night and
more likely to abuse drugs / alcohol often
leading to crime