As in other areas of sociology, criminological studies have traditionally ignored half the population. An example of this is the account of social order and anomie. Merton (1930) argued that American society encouraged people to seek 'money success', and as the social structure was unable to provide unlimited opportunities for all, this resulted in a 'strain to anomie', which lead to different types of deviance.
Therefore it has been argued by various sociologists that women should figure more prominently in various categories of deviance including crime. Female criminology is an issue, which has been neglected for many years by sociologists and criminologists.The reason as to why there seems to be low crime rate for women is explained by Pollok (1950), his work claims that the official statistics for woman are highly misleading and hide the true extent of female crime, much of which, he says, goes unreported. Pollock suggested that woman's domestic role of housewife/mother gave them the opportunity to hide crimes such as poisoning their relatives, and sexually abusing their children. He also argued that woman are naturally devious and as a result are more adept at concealing their crimes.
Pollak attributed this to biology, as proof of their inherent dishonesty, he cited their concealment of menstrual pain both from men and from society, as well as their ability to fake orgasms. In addition, Pollok argued that the police, magistrates, courts and judges are more likely to be lenient towards woman once their crimes have been reported. Pollok referred to this as the 'chivalry thesis'. This suggests that because women are seen as subordinate, caring and weak they are thought to be incapable of malicious crime.
According to this position, the reason female crime is under-represented in the official crime statistics is the inbuilt sexism in the legal process.Stanko and Hobdell also reflected Pollok's view of unreported crime. Writing in relation to men's fear of crime he stated: "Criminology's failure to explore men's experience of violence is often attributed to men's reluctance to report weakness. This silence is, we are led to believe, a product of men's hesitation to disclose vulnerability.
" (Stanko and Hobdell, 1993)Heidensohn (1989) however dismisses the 'chivalry' idea and suggests that women offenders are branded as doubly deviant, firstly by ignoring appropriate female behaviour and also by breaking the law. Heidensohn points out the double standards within the criminal justice system, where male aggression is seen as natural phenomenon and female offences are explanations in 'psychological' terms.Heidensohn has also tried to explain the apparent fewer crimes committed by women by using control theory, which states that patriarchal societies control women more effectively than they do men. Thus making it more difficult for women to break the law. Socialisation theories also look at the way women are influences at work, in public and at home.
Women's lifestyles are more centred around the home and caring for children and relatives; this therefore reduces women's opportunity to commit crime as their lifestyle is based more around the home than men's.Another theory of women and crime is the liberation thesis which is epitomised by Freda Adler (1975), who stated that the higher numbers of female crime seen in recent times would continue to rise as a result of the feminist movement and women's liberation. As women fight for equal rights the levels of crime will rise because women are entering the domain of men more so than the previous generation. This includes the traditionally male dominated fields of doctors, business people as well as crime.In contrast to the sociological theories of crime in relation to gender, Lambroso and Ferrero (1895), explained the reason as to why women commit crime from a biological perspective.
His theory was founded on atavism and social Darwinism, which stated that criminal women were biological throwbacks from an earlier evolutionary period. In one of the most significant early studies of female criminality they studied pictures of female offenders, measured craniums and counted the moles and tattoos of imprisoned women. He found that very few of the sample were of the 'true' criminal type. To them this suggested that the criminals among women would not be as prevalent in comparison to men. He stated that Females were not true 'biological' criminals and those among them that were criminals tended to be more masculine than other women are.
Writing about male crime, Lambroso (1875), suggested that criminals had certain physical traits that distinguished them from non-criminals. They had what he called a 'animalistic' quality about them, and could be identified through certain physical characteristics.However according to many sociologists Lambroso's theory has long been discredited and attacked for various reasons. These included areas such as methodology, sources and his use of statistics. Hence for the purpose of this research I will focus on social factors of female and male crime.Having looked at the most eminent theories of crime and gender, I have decided that my aim is to examine the statistical relationship between gender and crime, if any.
In addition to discern if my data supports or dismisses any of the prominent theories given in relation to gender and crime.I have used secondary evidence to attain my aim of exploring the relationship between gender and crime, as any investigation of the amount of crime, the general trends or particular types of crime is bound to rely heavily upon the statistical evidence that is available. In order to increase the validity of my research and to gain a more complete understanding of the subject of gender and crime I have incorporated the principle of triangulation. Hence by using secondary quantitative data obtained from various official sources will help me to attain a statistical picture and overall pattern of crime for each sex in different societies.On the other hand by using secondary qualitative data I can obtain a richer and deeper understanding of any correlation found in relation to gender and crime. Therefor as a result by combining the two methods I am able to utilise the specific advantages of both methods of research.
The two approaches together can also give a more complete picture of the groups studied. Moreover by using official statistics I will be able to gain access to a large number of information that is readily available from various organisations and countries, which release official government statistics.In addition by using historical data I will obtain access to data that cannot be produced using primary research, as the events concerned took place in a previous era. Likewise by reviewing official records that can be compared from one year to another, which will enable me to obtain a perspective of the issue over time. Furthermore, in order to increase the validity of the secondary statistical data in my research I have used the principle of data triangulation, as a result by collecting data from different generations and different countries I am able to cross- check my data for validity.
