Women and Crime

Women and Crime

Women and Crime

Introduction

Women constitute the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated offender population, although they represent only seven percent of the total population. Female offenders are portrayed within the media as violent, predatory, and aggressive, leading the general public to view this new type of offender as more “masculine” in nature. In reality, the majority of females that are incarcerated have been convicted of non-violent offenses, drug offenses, or as an accessory to a crime. In contrast, incarcerated males are more likely to have been convicted of violent offenses and multiple charges. Males are also more likely to be a major dealer in a drug enterprise, more likely to have used a gun or weapon, and are more often the lead perpetrator in crime commission in comparison to female offenders. (Dinsmor, 2003)

Explanation

Class, Race, Gender, and Crime: The Social Realities of Justice in UK is a systematic examination of the impact of class, race and gender on criminological theory and the administration of criminal justice. These topics represent the main sites of inequality, power, and privilege in the uk which define society's understanding, consciously or unconsciously, of who is a criminal and how society should deal with them. The text is ordered around short, lucid introductions to the key concepts of class, race/ethnicity, gender and their intersections. Subsequent chapters use these concepts as subheadings to structure topics related to criminology, victimization and each phase of the administration of criminal justice: practices of law making, law enforcement, adjudication, sentencing, and punishment. Significantly, the authors provide a history to contextualize contemporary data and policy debates, which they observe through the lens of social justice. The book concludes with a review of the evolution of justice in UK, along with an evaluation of alternative crime reduction policies, intended to further realize the goals and aspirations of "liberty, justice, and equality for all.

However as suggested at the very beginning, this essay will not cover the arena of how the police treat women differently from men since it is not within the scope due to limited space available. One of the difficulties in concluding whether female offenders are treated leniently or not is the actual influence of gender compared to other factors such as race, age, or class. Neither black nor working class women experience leniency within the criminal justice system. Heidensohn puts forward a somewhat different perspective. She examines how social understandings about femininity affect women's experiences within the criminal justice system. She argues that women are treated more harshly than men, in cases where they do not fit the social norms of femininity. (Dinsmor, 2003) that female offenders in line with the sex role expectation (stereotype) experiences less harsh outcomes than female offenders who do not. Heidensohn notes that there are two aspects to the theme of excessive harshness towards female offenders. The first is the double deviant argument not only have the females broken the law but they have also offended the “more fundamental norms which govern ...