Gender Patterns In Crime

According to Pollak, men are socialised to have a protective ('chivalrous') attitude towards women. Most criminal justice agents are men, thus, the the criminal justice system is more lenient with women, hence they are underrepresented in crime statistics.

Graham and Bowling did a study of 1,721 14-15 year olds and found that males were more likely to offend but the difference between female and male offending was smaller than that recorded in OCS: males were found to be 2.33x more likely to admit to offending in previous 12 months (OCS says 4x more likely).

Flood-Page et al found only 1 in 11 female self-reported offenders had been cautioned or prosecuted whereas it was 1 in 7 for males.

The Ministry of Justice (2009) found that 49% of females recorded as offending received a caution in 2007 - this was only 30% for males.

Hood's study of 3000+ defendents found women were one-third less likely to be jailed than men in similar cases.

Buckle and Farrington, in an observational study in a department store, found 2x more males shoplifted than females: OCS show an equal chance for males and females shoplifting therefore maybe males are less likely to be prosecuted.

Farrington and Morris (1983) - in a study of sentencing of 408 theft offences.

Heidensohn argues that courts test females more harshly than males when they deviate from social norms: eg. double standards - courts punish girls, but not boys, for premature or promiscuous sexual activity. 'Wayward' girls can end up in care without ever committing an offence.

Stewart found that magistrates' perceptions of female defedents' characters were based on stereotypical gender roles.

Feminists argue that these double standards exist because the justice system is patriarchal. Walklate argyes it is the victim that is on trial in rape cases as she has to prove her respectability to have evidence accepted.

[4] out of [5] convicted offenders in England and Wales are [male].
By the age of 40, [9]% of females had a criminal conviction, as against [32]% of males.

A higher proportion of female than male offenders are convicted of [property offences] (except [burglary]). A higher proportion of male than female offenders are convicted of [violent] or [sexual] offences.

Males are more likely to be [repeat] offenders, to have [longer criminal careers] and to commit more serious crimes. For example, men are about 15 times more likely to be convicted of homicide.

1. Typically female crimes such as shoplifting are less likely to be reported,eg shoplifting and prostitution. The invisibility of female crime: they are less visible and harder to detect.
2. Even when women's crimes are detected or reported, they are less likely to be prosecuted or, if prosecuted, more likely to be let off relatively lightly.

According to Pollok, the public are less likely to report female crime as females don't match up to their image of a typical criminal.