Deck 13: Feminist Theories

Question 1

Research indicates that as women's participation in the labor force has increased, there have been dramatic increases in female involvement in white-collar, occupationally related crimes.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Most current explanations of differences in the crime rates of men and women lean heavily on biological differences between the sexes.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

According to feminist theory, crimes committed by women in intentional defiance of law are a form of feminine political crime.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Research by Steffensmeier and others on changes in female crime rates and cross-national differences in gender inequality has provided evidence supporting hypotheses from feminist theory.

Question 5

Feminist theory proposes that patriarchal dominance in society is as important as racial and class dominance in explaining the law and criminal justice decisions.

Question 6

Research evidence thus far supports the feminist hypothesis that criminal justice decisions are strongly influenced by considerations of gender or sex roles.

Question 7

Daly's research indicates that both male and female defendants who have children to support are more likely to be treated leniently by the criminal justice system.

Question 8

The chivalry hypothesis was developed as part of feminist theory and is still recognized today as a type of feminist theory.

Question 9

Feminist theory posits that gender differences in criminal justice processing reflect and reinforce patterns of male domination in society at large.

Question 10

A patriarchal society is one in which women experience subordination on the basis of sex.

Question 11

By and large, research supports the hypothesis that when offense seriousness and prior record are controlled, females receive harsher treatment in the justice system than males.

Question 12

Feminist theorists contend that traditional theories of crime were formulated by males, with male offenders in mind, and that they do not adequately explain the criminality of women.

Question 13

Messerschmidt argues that the criminality of women and violence committed by lower-class men both derive from powerlessness.

Question 14

Contemporary feminist theory, such as that expounded by Daly and Chesney-Lind, concentrate on explaining criminal behavior by women and pay little attention to gender inequality in the criminal justice system.

Question 15

Recent research by Chesney-Lind has found increased and substantial involvement of girls in delinquent gangs.

Question 16

There is little empirical support for the feminist critique that major criminological theories apply only to male offenders and cannot be generalized to female offenders.

Question 17

One clear policy implication of feminist theories of crime and criminal justice is that patriarchy must be ended or at least fundamental changes must be made in gendered institutions and social relations in society.

Question 18

Although there is no single feminist theory, there is general consensus in the field as to which theories fall into the various categories of feminist theories: liberal, radical, Marxist, socialist, and postmodernist.

Question 19

According to power-control theory, in patriarchal families mothers exert greater controls over daughters than over sons.

Question 20

Power-control theory predicts that girls will commit more delinquency than boys in patriarchal families.

Question 21

According to Messerschmidt's theory of masculinities and crime, one's essential nature as masculine or feminine becomes more or less fixed in early childhood and does not change much thereafter.

Question 22

Research indicates that chivalry in the criminal justice system is practiced selectively, with white, middle-class women being treated more leniently than minority, lower-class women.

Question 23

The "gendered pathways" approach to explaining crime argues that the structural arrangements that determine gender differences in norms and values produce gender differences in opportunities and motivations for crime, which in turn produce gender differences in the amounts and types of crimes committed by males and females.

Question 24

Recent versions of feminist theory (e.g., Messerschmidt, Chesney-Lind) focus on:

A) changes in female roles and self-conceptions related to the women's liberation movement
B) the content of the learning that takes place in same-sex peer groups
C) expanded opportunities for female crime
D) male dominance in patriarchal society and its impact on crime both by and against women
E) the feminization of deviance

Question 25

According to Akers and Sellers, feminist theory focuses on which of the following issue(s)?

A) Do theories of male crime apply to women?
B) Can existing theories explain gender differences in crime?
C) Does the social experience of being female produce a different etiology of crime than applies to males?
D) a and b
E) all of the above

Question 26

The "liberation" perspective in feminist theory argues that:

A) strain caused by gender inequality is a major factor in female crime
B) increases in female crime are a consequence of greater gender equality
C) changing sex role expectations have produced normlessness for women that increases female involvement in crime
D) the breakdown of traditional sex roles decreases delinquency among the children of "liberated" women
E) increased female participation in the labor force creates a threat that increases crime rates among males

Question 27

Power-control theory proposes that:

A) the subjugation of women by men produces "learned helplessness" among women that results in aggression turned inward (mental illness, depression) rather than acting-out behavior
B) patriarchal family structures produce large gender differences in delinquent behavior
C) the subjugation of others through "power" is far less effective in preventing deviance than is the "control" of others through legitimate authority
D) the criminality of women and of men both can be understood as a result of their powerlessness
E) sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of young girls leads them to run away from home and engage in crime in order to survive on the streets

Question 28

Akers and Sellers conclude that, overall, studies that have examined the role of gender in justice decision making indicate that, after controls are introduced for legally relevant variables:

A) it appears that males are treated more harshly for serious offenses, whereas females are treated more harshly for minor offenses
B) it appears that females are treated more harshly for serious offenses, whereas males are treated more harshly for minor offenses
C) it appears that females are treated more harshly than males for all varieties of offenses
D) it appears that males are treated more harshly than females for all varieties of offenses
E) gender differences in processing are small and inconsequential

Question 29

Chesney-Lind argues that the juvenile justice system is paternalistic. By this she means that the system:

A) reinforces sex role stereotypes so that the justice system treats women who are submissive more leniently and punishes more harshly women who depart from traditional sex role expectations
B) systematically treats women more leniently than men because the system is dominated by males who liken female offenders to their wives and daughters
C) is systematically overly protective of women, often incarcerating them "for their own good" in situations where males would be released
D) punishes men more harshly than women because men are held more responsible for their behavior than are women
E) b and c

Question 30

Daly's research on pretrial release and sentencing decisions uncovered evidence that:

A) female defendants received more lenient treatment than males
B) both male and female defendants with dependent children were treated more leniently by the courts
C) female defendants received more lenient treatment for minor offenses but harsher treatment for serious crimes
D) female defendants were treated more harshly than male defendants only for offenses against children
E) men were treated more harshly than women for white-collar crimes

Question 31

Chesney-Lind argues that some offenses committed by females represent attempts to escape patriarchal domination. She illustrates with the case of:

A) female drug abusers
B) females who murder their spouses
C) adolescent girls who run away from home
D) mothers who engage in welfare fraud
E) violent female gangs

Question 32

The economic marginalization hypothesis emphasizes that women's increased participation in the labor force:

A) has nothing to do with the causes of crime among women
B) provides women with greater opportunities to engage in economic crimes
C) has actually decreased financial resources for many women, who now rely on crime rather than men for economic survival
D) empowers women to behave more like men, including involvement in violent criminal behavior
E) has widened the gender gap in criminal offending

Question 33

The research that links women's physical and sexual victimization in childhood with criminal behavior in adulthood characterizes which of the following explanations of crime among women?

A) the gendered pathways approach
B) power-control theory
C) the gendered context approach
D) masculinities theory
E) none of the above

Question 34

Which of the following is not a key feature of contemporary feminist criminology?

A) explicit commitment to intersectionality
B) a focus on motherhood and crime
C) a focus on masculinity and the gender gap in serious crime,
D) a critical assessment of corporate media
E) the demonization of girls and women of color

Question 35

Explain the chivalry and paternalism hypotheses of the treatment of women in the criminal justice system, contrasting them to the conflict hypothesis.

Question 36

Chesney-Lind reports that girls are more likely than boys to be referred to juvenile court and incarcerated for running away from home. Choose one of the following interpretations, and show how it does or does not fit into her feminist perspective.
A. Girls are more likely than boys to run away from home because parents exert greater controls over daughters than sons, illustrating the subjugation of females in a patriarchal society.
B. Adolescent girls are motivated to run away from home to achieve the same level of independence as their male counterparts.
C. This finding provides another demonstration of how male-dominated society maintains control over women. Girls who run away from home have departed from traditional sex role expectations. Consequently, they are punished more harshly than boys who engage in the same behavior.
D. This finding reflects paternalistic attitudes toward females. The justice system steps in to "protect defenseless females" in situations in which their male counterparts are not perceived to need protection.
E. Police, court, and corrections officials all tend to be male in a justice system in a patriarchal society that is biased against females. They overreact to deviance among females because they do not understand the nature of the female experience. Thus, females receive harsher treatment than males receive for all varieties of illegal behavior.

Question 37

Discuss the concepts of "patriarchy" and "paternalism" and their role in feminist theory.

Question 38

To what extent does research support the central hypotheses associated with feminist theory?

Question 39

Do we need a feminist theory of crime? Explain your response.

Question 40

Discuss the implications of a patriarchal social system for crimes committed both by and against women.

Question 41

Evaluate the empirical validity of feminist theory versus conflict theory as explanations of both male and female crime and delinquency.

Question 42

Identify and discuss the central concepts and propositions of feminist theory as (1) a theory of law and criminal justice and (2) a theory of crime. To what extent is it supported by empirical research? What are the policy implications of feminist theory?

Question 43

The feminist position taken by Chesney-Lind, Daly, and others is that contemporary theories are incapable of accounting for the differences in male and female rates of crime and delinquency because they were developed and tested principally as explanations of male behavior. Akers and Sellers and others dispute this position and claim that the gender differences reflect variations among males and females on the causes of crime and delinquency identified in the major theories such as social learning, social bonding, self-control, and strain theories. What is your view of this controversy? Which side would you take? Support your arguments with reference to specific concepts and propositions and the empirical evidence for at least one of the major theories.

Question 44

Explain John Hagan's power?control theory. What does it set out to explain? What kind of theories does it attempt to blend? Do Hagan's Canadian data support his own theory? What do you conclude from research conducted by others to test power-control theory?

Question 45

Compare and contrast patriarchy theory and masculinities theory. Why would some feminist theorists, including James Messerschmidt, reject patriarchy as a concept that has "lost its strength and usefulness as an analytical tool"? And why would supporters of patriarchy theory say that masculinities theory presents a tautological explanation of crime?