The first wave of the feminist movement in the united states came about in 1920 with the constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. The second wave of feminism began in the 1960’s with the new renewed demand for women equality. As a result of the demand for equality for the women by the women more women entered the work force and the political aspect of society and therefore reducing the gap between the sexes in terms of power, pay and social standing. However it is vital to point out that there still today is a gap between the genders in terms of pay power and social standing we are still living in a male dominated society specifically in the managerial aspect and living in a patriarchal society. Patriarchy is the term to describe the control by men of a disproportionately large share of power. (Merrieam-Webster dictionary) In 1950 to 1975, the number of women in the labor force almost doubled and predictions were made that rising crime rates for women would occur as a result of the success of the women’s liberation movement. It was argued that the feminist movement had increased women’s opportunities, and thirst for crime. It also strongly contradicted the pathological explanations of female criminality prevalent in the preceding century (Freda Alder, 1975, pg 125) Alder (1975) predicted that increase in female offending was due to the emancipation of women and their growing participation in the workplace. The feminist movement gave women liberation and choice and brought about progressive changes in status for women in areas such as the family, the workplace and the political sphere and social position. (Wilson and Montague, 1999, pg 101) Before the women’s liberation women had the same aspirations as men but like an oppressed class, lacked the power to obtain their goals by legitimate means. Woman had to seek status through men by conforming to the male definition of femininity (Alder 1975) the liberation of women had removed restrictions on women’s behaviors and opportunities as they no longer had to conform to male definitions of femininity and therefore gave them more opportunities for crime. As women started to become more equal to men they started to become as criminal as men. With new deals such as the Abortion Act 1967 women were given the choice to rid of unwanted pregnancies and choice and the biological gap between men and women closed a little more thus giving women more opportunities for crime. Differences between the sexes include size, strength, aggression and dominance. Men have been overrepresented in the criminal justice system. There are biological differences between men and women but aggression and dominance (key factors of criminality) are socially learned. Alder argued that social forces were more important in determining criminal behaviors than biological differences. As society changes the biological differences become less important. For example the physical strength and size of men was made unimportant with the introduction of new technology and modern weapons.
There has certainly been an increase in female criminality however it is a contested concept as to whether they have become more deviant as it is suggested that women have always been deviant. The feminist movement and liberation of women has seemed to affect the criminality of women, as there are more women in prison now than ever before. Females do commit fewer crimes than men. Women are of generally less serious character and are less likely to persist after first conviction. In 1999 only fifteen percent of those arrested and seventeen per cent of known offenders in England and Wales were women (Rock, 2003, pg 301) recent studies show that women have a lower threshold of shame and guilt than men and are more prone to ‘deviance disavowal.
However maybe it’s just that women are now being caught for the crimes they commit.
There are alternative explanations for the increase in female deviancy and criminality and this part of the essay shall explain them.
Many feminist sociologists agreed that in fact Female Emancipation has not occurred even in its most basic form. In that sense it is impossible that the female emancipation has been the cause of female criminality and there must be an alternative explanation.
One alternative explanation is the changes in attitudes and beliefs in society. As attitudes change, certain behaviors become more acceptable within that society.
The most significant feature of both recorded and self-reported crime is that more males commit offences than females. This is particularly true for violent crime. Kirsta (1994) claims that women are becoming more aggressive. (Pollak 1950) claims that because of womens inherent deviousness they have always been more criminal but have simply been able to conceal it. (cited in Harrower, 2001, pg 26) In 1997 only seventeen percent of known offenders were women and it is estimated that only eight per cent of women have a conviction by the age of forty compared to thirty- four per cent of men (Home Office 1999). There have also been suggestions that the Criminal Justice system is more ‘chivalrous’ towards females and therefore the gender difference is not as large as would appear from official figures. (Hedderman and Hough 1994) cited in (Harrower, 2001, pg 27)
Most explanations of the gender gap in crime draw on an accepted difference between males and females such as dominance aggression, physique and nurturance. Explanations to why more males commit crime points to female socialization, which tends to be characterized by greater parental supervision, more stress on conformity and fewer opportunities for crime. Those females who do deviate are viewed as having not only rejected societies rules but the traditional female role too. These women are described as showing double deviance. (Hodensohn 1995) Psychologists Lombrosso and Ferrero (1985) suggest tht criminal women are rare, but those who have not been neutralized by maternity are likely to become worse criminals than men. Criminology has notoriously ignored the issue of gender instead offering universal theories of crime based on stuff=dies which has relied only on male subjects. This makes it hard to discuss what exactly is making women more criminal.
There a range of different ideas to what has affected the criminality and deviousness of women. However with out the feminist movement women would not have the life choices and freedom they have today and therefore it is fair to say that the feminist movement helped give women choice which led to them at least having opportunities for crime.
This essay has given explanations to what has affected the criminality of women since the liberation of women.
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