SOC219H5 Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Black People, Rape, Canada
SOC219H5
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
SOC219; Lecture 1 - Introduction to Gender, Crime and Justice
What is Gender?
● Not the same as sex or a sex category
○ Sex is determined at birth based on sexual organs, genitalia and
chromosomes - very biology based
○ Sex category is what society uses to classify people based on socially
accepted norms; behaviour, attitudes, etc. - based on sociological norms
○ Sex and sex category do differ
○ Some people can be classified as one thing based on genitalia but another
because of society
● Constantly being created and and recreated through social interaction
● Constructed based on social norms and expectations about appropriate male/female
behaviour
● Gender is the act of portraying yourself as masculine/feminine or male/female
Gender is so familiar that it usually takes a deliberate disruption of our expectation of
how women and men act to pay attention to it
● When someone falls outside of what we think is masculine/feminine or male/female -
we conduct ourselves accordingly and take notice - those individuals tend to be
ostracized
● The terms masculine and feminine is usually used to refer to gender but can be fluid
and take different forms
● Ex. when fathers have their babies strapped or are with their babies on a stroller,
they are reshaping the role of men through social interactions
● Gender is not always attached to sex but can be - varies over time and space
● Women who portray themselves as masculine or men who portray selves as feminine
experience many difficulties - recieve harsher or no treatment by criminal justice
system
The Crime Gender Gap
● Men are arrested, convicted and punished more often than women
● Women commit fewer crimes
○ Women = 1 in 5 are accused (2005)
○ Female crime rate is 1:4 make crime rate (1.1k v. 4.2k/100k accusations)
● Women tend to commit different types of crimes
○ Theft (other than theft of motor vehicle), common assault, bail violations and
fraud
● Women tend to not recidivate (and those who do, do not escalate their behaviour)
● Far fewer women in prison than men
○ Women = 6% of offenders in provincial/territorial sentenced custody
■ 4% in federal sentences custody
■ 6% remanded into custody to await court appearances (2004/5)
As a Result…
● Criminology has historically been less interested in women’s crime so we tend to
know very little about female criminality - there has been a lack in research of women
● The guiding perception is that female criminality is naturally low and always has been
find more resources at oneclass.com
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○ Women are incapable of committing crime because of traditional norms that
see women as weak and conforming
○ An inaccuracy replicated in course textbooks, studies on crime, and the media
● Women who experience the CJS face a system designed for men, which can affect
sentencing, processing, and confinement (CJS=criminal justice system)
○ Women often are primary caregivers of children, and have higher mental
healthcare needs which have large implications for women who go through
the system
● Trends in women’s offending and punishment are usually obscured by dominant
trends re: men
○ Even though women are the fastest growing population in CAN/US prisons
○ Violent crime rate charges against men have declined in past years but
womens violent crime charge rates have increased by 27% and has remained
stable at that number
○ When we focus on men, we might overlook the crime rates associated with
women - overcrowding in women’s prisons and other factors are ignored
● Also disguises other ways women come into contact with the criminal justice system -
i.e. victims - gendered victimization; crimes committed against women who speak up
in the CJS
Is the Gender Gap Closing?
● Generally, the gender gap isn’t closing
● Womens crime rates have increased
● Women are the fastest growing population in prison in the US/CAN • Official arrest
data indicate that more women are getting arrested for violent crime
● 37% more women behind bars than 10 years ago - women are the fastest growing
population in the prison system
○ Prompted some to believe that the gender gap in crime is closing
● No actual evidence to prove that women crime rates are approaching the same level
as mens crime
● Statistics do show that men are getting arrested for crime more than ever in the past
● Women are not commiting more crime but just are being arrested more often
● Could also be that men are committing less crime which is why women crime rates
are looking higher
● Community support groups are drawing attention to more women getting arresting
because of lack of social support such as housing, jobs and mental healthcare
Important questions;
● Why do women commit less crime than men or why do men commit more crime than
women?
● What role does gender play in deterring or encouraging crime?
○ Do men commit crime in order to do masculinity?
○ Do men not commit crime in order to do femininity?
● Can prominent criminological and sociological theories explain womens crimes?
○ Because they weren't designed with women in mind, they might not be able to
explain women offending
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Soc219; lecture 1 - introduction to gender, crime and justice. Not the same as sex or a sex category. Sex is determined at birth based on sexual organs, genitalia and chromosomes - very biology based. Sex category is what society uses to classify people based on socially accepted norms; behaviour, attitudes, etc. Some people can be classified as one thing based on genitalia but another because of society. Constantly being created and and recreated through social interaction. Constructed based on social norms and expectations about appropriate male/female behaviour. Gender is the act of portraying yourself as masculine/feminine or male/female. Gender is so familiar that it usually takes a deliberate disruption of our expectation of how women and men act to pay attention to it. When someone falls outside of what we think is masculine/feminine or male/female - we conduct ourselves accordingly and take notice - those individuals tend to be ostracized.
