Criminology

Criminology

Q1. Briefly describe two types of crimes that are more likely to be committed by women than men.

              Though [u1] gender is the biggest predictor of crimes committed and thus [u2] men commit more crime than women there are those crimes that are more likely to be committed by women. This crimes include; shoplifting and abortions[u3] .

 Shoplifting is clearly a psychological issue for many women. Shoplifting for most women is rarely about greed or poverty. It’s about them struggling with their own personal conflicts and needs.

The single largest psychological factor found in approximately 1/3 of female shoplifters studied is “depression”. This helps to explain why so many of them steal from stores on their birthday and/or around holiday times.

The more intense form of shoplifting is classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as an “Impulse Disorder” known as Kleptomania[u4]  . For this classification, the patient must meet the following five criteria to justify this diagnosis.

1. Recurrent failure to resist impulses to steal objects that are not needed for personal use or their monetary value.
2. Increasing sense of tension immediately before committing the theft.
3. Pleasure or relief at the time of committing the theft.
4. Stealing is not committed to express anger or vengeance and is not in response to a delusion or hallucination.
5. The stealing is not better accounted for by Conduct Disorder, a Manic Episode, or Antisocial Personality Disorder[u5] .

 Abortion, though considered a criminal offence in nature, the decision to continue the pregnancy or to end it is very personal.

The most common reasons women consider abortion are:

• Birth control (contraceptive) failure. Over half of all women who have an abortion used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant.
• Inability to support or care for a child.
• To end an unwanted pregnancy.
• To prevent the birth of a child with birth defects or severe medical problems. Such defects are often unknown until routine second-trimester tests are done.
• Pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.
• Physical or mental conditions that endanger the woman’s health if the pregnancy is continued.

Q.2 Explain why women are likely to be involved in crime.

There are many reasons why women get involved in crime. According to the US Department of justice data indicate female offenders come from very troubled background with high rates of mental and substance abuse issues. From the Bureau of Justice Statistics: “….about 60 percent of female state prison inmates reported having experienced physical or sexual abuse prior to their incarceration about a third had been abused by an intimate, and a quarter by a family member. An estimated 80 percent of the women in state prisons were either recidivists or had a current conviction for violence[u6] ” (US Department of justice, 2010). With this information in mind, it is important therefore to develop friendly environment where young girls and women will be able to grow in. This can help reduce if not eradicate female crime.

Another theory that has been advanced suggests that biological properties are determinants of criminal behavior (Lombroso, 1835-1909)[u7] .  He studied autopsies of criminals and determined certain physical “stigmatic” characteristics to be present: deviation in head size and shape, eye defects and oddities, asymmetry of the face and cranium, ears of an unusual size, etc. This was his evidence to suggest biology as a determinant of crime.

 He viewed female criminals as having excessive male characteristics and as exhibiting masculine biological orientations. He argued that, criminal females resembled men (criminal or non-criminal) more closely than non-criminal females.

 Economic marginalization has increased crime by women due to the absence of real and meaningful opportunities for women (Feineman and Naffine)[u8] .

 Despite the increase of women in the working world today, there are still a great many of them that are not employed or who are working in minimum wage paying jobs.

Statistics support this theory by demonstrating that the majority of female offenders are unemployed or concentrated in areas where pay is low and work is unrewarding[u9] .

Q.3 Explain why female offenders are treated differently compared to men in the justice system.

The criminal justice system has an underlying principle that everyone must be treated equally. However, this, does not necessarily mean that everyone should be treated the same. The underlying circumstances which may have led men and women to offend can be very different. To achieve equitable outcomes for male and female offenders, different approaches need to be taken.

Another reason why women may be treated differently by the justice system is the fact that most crimes committed by women are under-represented in statistics due to; lack of reporting, concealment or chivalry in the criminal justice system.[u10] 

                                                       References

            US Department of justice, Women and crime, 2010.

            Lombroso.C.The Born Criminal, 1835-1909.

            Feinman .C. and Naffine.N. Economic Marginalization.

Other than the comments I have put, please ensure that your everything is in Times New Roman font size 12. Go to http://about.brighton.ac.uk/pabsstudyskills/essential-skills/A%20PABS%20guide%20to%20referencing%20in%20academic%20writing.pdf

And https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/ to learn how to reference

---

 [u1]You cannot start your answer with though

 [u2]Thus means therefore and is therefore misplaced

 [u3]Abortion is legal in the US. A better idea would have been sex crimes such as prostitution

 [u4]You should have added a reference somewhere around here

 [u5]Reference here

 [u6]While this is allowed, it is often discouraged.  It will be caught by plagiarism checking software and makes the student appear lazy. An alternative is to cite the quote in your own words (paraphrase)

 [u7]The font size here is 11. Make a step of ensuring that a majority of your references were written in the past 10 years

 [u8]If the date of publication is not provided, write this (Feineman and Naffine n.d.)

 [u9]Reference required here

 [u10]Please note that you did not answer the question comprehensively. Mention how they are treated differently as well