Gender Differences Shapes Offending Behavior - Case Study Example

Gender Differences Shapes Offending Behavior Introduction Criminologists generally agree that social structure and context is a major contributing factor to criminal conduct. The structure of a child’s everyday life will generally predict how that child will develop and whether or not he or she will become susceptible to criminal conduct.1 Responses to gender differences are manifested early in life and will quite often function to shape offending behavior. Past and current trends indicate that males are more likely to develop offending behavior than women. However, recent trends have raised concern over the increase in female aggression. The discussion that follows looks at the manner in which society has traditionally treated women and how that treatment accounts for the differences in both male and female offending trends. The role of women in Society Linda Lindsey explains that society is defined by and structured by a set of social interactions that are primarily dictated by status. Status in turn, is a mechanism by which a person’s position in society will be regarded by others. There are typically two types of determining statuses that are attributed to members of a society. They are ascribed status and achieved status. Achieved status will be such things as voluntary achievements, for instance a doctor, lawyer, secretary, employee or passenger. Ascribed status is involuntary in that we are usually born into it. According to Lindsey “the most important statuses are gender, race and social class.”2 History and tradition dictates that a woman’s ascribed status compromises her freedom to pursue voluntary achievements. Men, however, as a result of their ascribed status are free to pursue voluntary achievements. Social norms permit diversity for men and prescribe limited roles for women. Although feminist movements have made significant progress in empowering women there still remains an inherent inequality of gender roles.3 Lindsey maintains that although times have changed attitudes about gender orientation, a bias in favor of men remains prevalent. Initially, girls were indoctrinated to focus on the concept that “home and family take precedence over paid work”4 and for boys to focus on the concept that “paid work takes precedence over family”’5 Although, nowadays, women are now focusing on combining both family matters and careers, social norms dictate that they find ways to juggle these conflicting roles. While men are now playing a more active role in the home and family they are not pressured to “juggle” these conflicting roles.6 Although the Western world has embraced a system of marriage referred to as and egalitarian marriage, some old habits are hard to break. In egalitarian marriages, family chores and responsibilities are divided among spouses in terms of relative skills. However, modern egalitarian marriages continue to suffer difficulties among gender lines in the area of household duties. This is because partners to egalitarian marriages have been: “…socialized into a world of traditional marriage and family patterns where gender roles continue to intrude.”7 Lesley McAra takes a rather simplistic approach to the gender differences and its impact of creating and contributing to offending behavior. Girls are expected to be pretty whereas boys are expected to look good and be tough.8 This is the background in which men and women are introduced into society and is a precursor to the development of and propensity for offending behavior. These trends are manifested early in life. Youth Delinquency and Contributing Factors A report released by Home Office Statistical Bulletin for the year 2005 documents that: “Males were more likely to have offended in the last 12 months than females (30% compared to 21% respectively). For males the prevalence of offending peaked among 16- to 19-year-olds, whilst for females the prevalence peaked earlier at age 14 to 15.”9 Moreover, the Home Office Statistical Bulletin reveals that in cases of both “frequent and serious offending among 10-15 years old” the most common denominator is offences associated with “anti-social behavior” and offenders are either victims of previous offences or drug users.10 Other contributing factors are: “ Having parents in trouble with the police was also strongly associated with serious offending. For frequent offending how well 10- to 15-year-olds got on with their parents/guardians, having friends/siblings who were in trouble with the police, being more likely to agree criminal acts are OK and being drunk once a month or more in the last 12 months were also strongly associated.”11 While this report strongly implies the all important reliance on the role of women in the stable structure of the family home, it also indicates although young males are more prone to criminal conduct. Despite the disparity in male youth offenders and female youth offenders there is a growing concern about the increased role of young women in aggressive criminal conduct. In a Scottish study conducted by Susan Batchelor, Michael Burman and Jane Brown most girls interviewed believed that violent conduct was acceptable as a means of manifesting strength and sticking up for oneself.12 Candice Odgers and Marlene Moretti report that young women committing violent offences have increased over the last decade.13 The feminine role in UK society is manifested in the level of violent crimes committed by young women in gangs particularly in the London area. Female gang membership is characterized by three determining factors. The determining factors are: “independently functioning units; members of mixed-sex gangs; or female auxiliaries to male gangs.”14 The striking feature of all three types of female gangs reflect society’s attitude toward women as one of subordinate. The popular view of the independent female gang is one of ‘tomboys’ or young women wanting to be like young men. In mixed-sex gangs young women were merely relegated to taking care of their male counterparts such as carrying weapons for the men. In auxiliary gangs young women are simply regarded as a feminine version of their male counterparts. In either case, young women: “are regarded either as sex objects and subservient to men or as male clones, which is a denial of their sex.”15 Research in to this area reveals that young women who are involved in London gangs typically come from single parent homes which are headed by a female, do not go to school, are frequently prey to teen-age pregnancy and reside in inner city housing estates.16 These factors, Archer asserts give way to a need to establish a family unit which is provided for in gang membership. This is also equally true for young men. These factors strongly suggest that the preceived role of the woman in society as home maker shapes the direction in which young people will grow. It also indicates that getting involved in gang activities provides a means by which young women can express their distaste for societal norms and the perceived role of women as nurturers. In a manner of speaking these young women are attempting to dispel the notion that women cannot juggle both family and work.17 It is a means of self expression in a common and shared pop culture. As Archer points out: “Punk culture represented the start of female selfempowerment and it marked the inclusion of women taking a central, rather than a supporting role, in a major subcultural movement. Notions of femininity were questioned by female punk rock singers and punk broke through race and gender barriers.”18 While it is true that there are far fewer female offenders than males, recent data indicates that the number of young female offenders practically doubled between the years 1993 and 2002.19 There is yet a common denominator, one that is consistently connected to both genders. Most of the young girls observed in a recent Scottish study and reviewed by Susan Batchelor who went on to commit violent crimes had previously experienced family dysfunction and abusive conduct toward them. Moreover a majority of these young women came from single parent homes and had experienced various changes in caregivers. Approximately three-quarters of the young women had been the subject of some social worker’s investigation and “more than half had been looked after by the local authority.”20 Typically the “average age of the first referral” is eleven and usually associated with truancy.21 This is normally: “followed by lack of parental care, being outside of parental control, and offending behavior.”22 Criminologist Segal maintains that the emerging aggressive young woman is more than just about individual family structure. It also represents a shift from the vulnerable girl to the mean girl.23 This shift reveals quite a bit more about what it means to be a girl in a male dominated society. These young women are delivering a message and the message is one of equality of the sexes.24 Simmons argues that female aggression catapults into violence as a form of expression. Women are simultaneously conflicted between the ascribed role of subservience and the increasing need to demonstrate independence. This inner struggle can sometimes give rise to released frustration.25 Be that as it may, when women engage in violent conduct it is stigmatized as unnatural, and “lad like.”26 Nicole Leeper Piquero et ales submit that crime in general among youth is primarily gender and peer oriented. Boys are more prone to delinquency and girls who associate with boys are more prone to delinquency than are girls who socialize with girls.27 This factor is solely attributable to social learning.28 Women for the most part are relegated to the subservient or dependant role, habits which are learned in youth as demonstrated by this gender specific trend in youth delinquency. Sentencing of Female offenders Anne Worral argues that the criminal justice system has a sentencing practice that is primarily gender conscious. This practice indicates general concepts of how gender shapes criminal conduct. Women are sentenced on the basis of their respective personal circumstances whereas men are sentenced in response to the offence committed.29 Between 1983 and 1994 the number of men receiving probation increased by 13, 588 while the number of women put on probation decreased by 2,329.30 Worral explains that the reason for this is the lack of remorse displayed by women to the probation board. She explains that: “Most did not see themselves as real criminals. They appeared to commit their crimes out of economic necessity or as a response to intolerable emotional stress. Key themes emerged - loneliness, fear (including fear of the power of experts and officials), low self-esteem, bewilderment, anger - frequently suppressed into depression, and a sense of not being listened to, heard or understood.”31 All of these factors are manifestations of societal attitudes toward gender and how those attitudes create and contribute to women’s growing propensity for criminal conduct. Conclusion According to Dr. David Farrington, prevention of youth offending begins in the structure of the home. He maintains that: “offending is often part of a larger syndrome of antisocial behaviour that arises in childhood and tends to persist into adulthood.”32 The propensity for antisocial behavior is attributable to a lack of parental control. While the role of the woman in UK society is connected to youth offending, the incidents of young female offending have brought the ascribed role of women into sharper focus and into the arena of “social conscience.”33 According to Garland “criminologies of everyday life’ is the primary force behind “preventing offending” strategies.34 The everyday life theory takes into consideration that changing social and economic conditions contribute to fluctuations in criminal activity. Routine activities affect relationships in the sense that targets are changed, offenders are motivated and guardians are absent. This is evident in a society where more women are forced to join the workforce and young children are left unsupervised. In single-parent homes headed by a female there is no other viable option. However, in homes consisting of dual parents today’s socio-economic changes call for more emphasis on the egalitarian family structure and shared parental responsibilities. The double burden placed on women is directly linked to the propensity for female and male offending. Works Cited Archer, Debbie. (September 1998) “Riot Grrrl and Raisin Girl: Femininity Within the Female Gang The Power of the Popular”. British Society of Criminology Vol 1Available online at: http://www.britsoccrim.org/volume1/002.pdf Retrieved November 24, 2007 Batchelor, Susan. Burman, Michael and Brown, Jane. (2001)” Discussing Violence: Lets Hear It from the Girls”. Probation Journal http://prb.sagepub.com Viewed November 24, 2007 Batchelor, Susan. (2005) ‘Prove me the bam!’: Victimization and agency in the lives of young women who commit violent offences.” Probation Journal vol 52 No. 4, 358-375 Burman, Michele. Batchelor, Susan. And Brown, Jane. (2001) “Facing Girls and Violence: Delimmas of Fieldwork” Brit. Journal of Criminology. Vol 41 No.3 p 443-459 Farrington, David, Phd. (2006) Childhood Risk Factors and Risk Focused Prevention. The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Garland, D. (1996) ‘The limits Of The Sovereign State: Strategies Of Crime Control In Contemporary Society’ The British Journal of Criminology 36 (4), 445-71 Hoyt, Stephanie and Sherer, David.(1998) “Female Juvenile Delinquency: Misunderstood by the Juvenile Justice System, Neglected by Social Science”. Law and Human Behavior, Vol. 22, No. 1, Gender and the Law p. 81 Lindsey, Linda.(2004) Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective. Prentice Hall McAra, Lesley. (n.d.)”Negotiated Order: Gender, Youth Transitions and Crime.” British Society of Criminology. https://manuscriptservices.digitalsecured.com/customer-uploaded-documents/project-143242/project-143242-custdoc-143250.pdf viewed N0ovember 24, 2007 McCarthy, Bill. Felmlee, Diane and Hagan, John. (2004) “Girlfriend are Better: Gender, Friends and Crime among School and Street Youth”. Criminology Vol 42 No 4 p 805 Odgers, Candice and Moretti, Marlene.(2002) “Aggressive and Aniisocial Girls: Research Update and Challenges.” International Journal of Forensic Mental Health Vol 1 No. 2 pp 103-119 Piquero, Nicole.Gover, Angela. MacDonald, John and Piquero, Alex. (2005) “The Influence of Delinquent Peers on Delinquency: Does Gender Matter?” Youth Society vol. 36, p. 251 Segal, L. (1999). Why Feminism? London: Polity Press. Simmons, R. (2002). Odd girl out: The hidden culture of aggression in girls. New York: Harcourt. Wilson, Debbie, Sharp, Clare and Patterson Allison.(December 2006) “Young People and Crime: Findings from the 2005 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey”. Home Office Statistical Bulletin Worral, Anne. (1998) “Real Punishment For Real Criminals? Community Sentences and the Gendering of Punishment.” British Society of Criminology Vol. 1pp1-12 Read More