Adler (1975 cited by Newburn 2007. P.304) argued that women have lost many of the constraints that have kept them within the law. Changes in the social position of women in the legitimate world have a correlation in the illegitimate world which has brought about greater involvement in crimes. In other words as many women were leaving traditional housebound roles they were becoming more involved in different forms of offending. Simon (1975, cited by Hopkins Burke, 2005. P.168) argued rather differently to Adler, she claimed that it was an increase in the opportunities that came with female emancipation that was crucial in understanding the increase in women committing more crime, particularly in the area of financial or property crime. Regardless of their differences both Adler and Simon argued that liberation, or emancipation causes crime. Gelsthorpe (2002, cited by Newburn 2007. P.305) suggests that there are two ways in which the emancipation thesis has influenced the discipline of criminology. The first being that it focused attention on female crime and second that it stimulated a proper evaluation of other theories and their importance and relevance in explaining women’s crime.
Whilst the emancipation thesis has had a great influence within the discipline of criminology it only goes so far. Lilly et al (2002, p.171) argues that following on from the work of Adler and Simon the next generation of feminist criminologists went from focusing on the emancipation of women to patriarchy. For radical feminists, Hale et al (2005, p.346) claim that patriarchy shapes society around the man, with their domination creating gender divisions between men and women, thus rendering women’s inequality great. This inequality has been challenged and influenced by feminist thought with the purpose being to expose male dominance and to challenge existing perceptions of female criminality within the discipline of criminology. As McLaughlin and Muncie (2006, p.336) point out radical feminism offers a systematic analysis of women’s oppression and the way in which it is maintained through the law and the criminal justice system. The aim of this approach is not only to understand male domination and the control of women but also to end it.
According to Newburn (2007, p.315) feminist thought has influenced the discipline of criminology by challenging and invalidating the hypothesis that women are treated more leniently then men by the criminal justice system. The leniency hypothesis, or chivalry hypothesis, was first proposed by Otto Pollak in 1950 (cited by Lilly et al 2002, p.168). Pollak advanced the theory that although there was no major discrepancy between crime rates for men and for women, women were treated more leniently due to chivalry in the criminal justice system therefore keeping the rates of their crimes hidden.
Heidensohn and Gelsthorpe (2007 in Maguire, Morgan and Reiner p.399) state that much feminist work has examined how women are dealt with by the criminal justice system, with the issue being whether they are treated more leniently for reasons of chivalry. Farrington and Morris (1993 cited in Hopkins Burke, 2005. P.169) conducted a study on sentencing in a Cambridge court, they concluded that if women were having lighter sentences passed upon them in comparison to men, it would be more than likely due to women being in court on first offences.
Furthermore Heidensohn (1985, p.57) argues that leniency from courts is more often apparent in certain crimes committed by men against women, such as domestic violence and rape. She states that non prosecution for men on this basis and on white collar crime indicates a tendency for men to be let off the hook more often than is the case for women. Feminist thinking proposes that courts deal more infrequently with female criminality which exposes women to gender discrimination by punishing them not only for their unlawful behaviour but also for deviating from their gender norm. Carol Smart (1997 cited by Newburn 2007, p.306) was perhaps the first to examine this concept when she claimed that women offenders were treated as ‘doubly deviant’
An area where feminist thought has been influential in the discipline of criminology has been with the development of a gender based theory of female delinquency focusing on social control systems of women. The control theory, which was originally developed by Hirshci in 1969 (cited by Marsh et al 2006 p.107), puts emphasis on conformity rather than deviance in explaining criminality and the formal and informal controls that constrain an individual. Hopkins Burke (2005 p.169) claims that in seeking to understand the lower levels and nature of female offending feminist criminologists have modified the control theory and applied it to this situation.
Most notably Heidensohn (1996 cited by Newburn 2007 p.310) argues that the reason why there are so few women criminals is because the male dominated society places many more formal and informal controls that constrains women than it does men. These controls begin within the immediate family in early childhood; expectations of behaviour begin at an early age. Boys are expected to conform to society’s views of masculinity in that they should be tough, independent and strong whilst girls are expected to be emotional, passive and domesticated. Smart (1976 cited by Marsh et al 2006 p.152) argues that the gender socialisation process of females places restrictions upon them in childhood that in turn gives them a lack of opportunities to witness, learn and participate in delinquency and criminality.
Heidensohn (1996 cited by Newburn 2007 p.310) continues that women’s lives are subjected to a number of informal social controls in later life that restrict their involvement in criminality even further. She argues that in the home women are restricted by being the main person responsible for child rearing and in public by the way traditionally girls and women have been kept in their place through male control over reputation. Here there is also the idea of separate spheres, the idea that men and women act differently in public and private and are controlled by different rules. At work women are restricted because they are expected to cope with both work and home, also most of the supervision of women in the workplace is done by men. The final informal social control that is placed upon women, according to Heidensohn, comes in the form of social policies which have traditionally been organised in a way which reinforces the traditional role of women. In essence women face different opportunities and controls to men and it is only by understanding these lack of opportunities and controls that female criminality can be better understood.
Perhaps the most recognised influence that feminist thought has had on the discipline of criminology is in the raising to greater prominence of the female victim and the opening up of topics such as domestic violence, sexual assault and rape committed against women by men. Newburn (2007 p.314) argues that feminist victimology as it has become known stemmed from the determination to make visible women’s victimisation and to challenge the acceptance and often rationalisations of much male violence against women. Furthermore feminist thinking argues that sexual violence against women was not primarily motivated by sexual desire but by a need for control, dominance and power.
Joyce (2006, p.47) argues that the oppression that is experienced by women is only reinforced by the male dominated administration of the law and stereotypical views of women that has structured the workings of agencies such as the police and the courts. Joyce goes on to argue that the female victims of crime receive inappropriate treatment from these agencies which often leads to the women feeling further victimisation or secondary victimisation.
Feminist thought in the area of female victimology has been extremely influential not only in the discipline of criminology but it has also influenced a number of public social policies. Lilly et al (2002, p.179) highlights the social policies that this influence has changed including mandatory arrests for domestic violence. Rape laws have undergone changes in that the focus has now changed from defining and prosecuting rape as a sexual act to treating it as an act of violence, also marital rape was made a criminal act in the U.K in October 1991. Finally another social policy change was the criminalising of male kerb crawlers rather than punishing prostitutes. All of these policies have seen the policing of sexual crimes improve in protecting women.
To conclude, it is impossible to deny that feminist thought has influenced the discipline of criminology in a variety of ways, all of which have served to challenge the gendered divisions that are inherent within the discipline of criminology. Liberal feminists like Adler and Simon have influenced the discipline with their discussions on the female emancipation leads to crime debate. Feminist thought has also influenced the discipline of criminology in that it has challenged and invalidated the hypothesis that women are treated more leniently than men by the criminal justice system, and there has been the emergence of gender based theories. The area that feminist thought has been particularly influential within the discipline of criminology has been in focusing attention on the nature of crime committed against women by men and raising to greater prominence of the female victim, this in turn has also led to public social policy changes designed for the greater protection of women.
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References
Gelsthorpe, G. & Morris, A. (1988). Feminism and Criminology in Britain. British Journal of Criminology. 28(2) 93-110
Hale, C., Hayward, K., Wahidin, A., & Wincup, E. (2005). Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Heidensohn, F. & Gelsthorpe, L. (2007). Gender and Crime. In Maguire, M., Morgan, R., & Reiner, R. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. (4th ed., pp. 381-420). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Heidensohn, F. (1985). Women and Crime. London: Macmillian Publishers Ltd.
Hopkins Burke, R. (2005). An Introduction to Criminological Theory (2nd ed.). Devon: Willan Publishing
Joyce, P. (2006). Criminal Justice, An Introduction to Crime and The Criminal Justice System. Devon: William Publishing.
Lilly, J R., Cullen, F T., & Ball, R A. (2002). Criminological Theory, Context and Consequences. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Marsh, I., Melville, G., Morgan, K., Norris, G., & Walkington, Z (eds). (2006). Theories of Crime. Oxon: Routledge.
McLaughlin, E. & Muncie, J. (2006). The Sage Dictionary of Criminology (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Newburn, T. (2007). Criminology. Devon: Willan Publishing.
Oakley, A. (1972). Sex, Gender and Society. London: Temple Smith
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