Deck 13: Gender and Crime

Question 1

The strongest correlate of crime is race.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Most criminological theories focus on female perpetrated crimes.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Female crime rates are higher than male crime rates.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Gender is a social construct.

Question 5

Traditional criminological theories are male-oriented.

Question 6

The National Crime Survey shows that the violent crime rate among women has surpassed that of men in the past 30 years.

Question 7

A feminist approach to criminological theory attempts to address the stereotypical ways women are portrayed in explanations of crime.

Question 8

Traditional criminological theories fail to address gender differences in treatment by criminal justice system.

Question 9

Theorists believed women's liberation would decrease female offending.

Question 10

Traditional theories cannot explain any female involvement in crime.

Question 11

Traditionally, men are treated less harshly than women accused of:

A) Rape
B) Murder
C) Sexual crimes
D) Property crimes

Question 12

Rita James Simon argues that criminality among women increased over time because of:

A) Opportunity
B) Necessity
C) Aggression
D) Abuse

Question 13

___________________ is a feminist school of thought that focuses attention on women's issues by improving women's opportunities in society.

A) Socialist feminism
B) Critical feminism
C) Liberal feminism
D) Women's liberation

Question 14

Socialist feminism argues that the male-female relationship is governed by:

A) Economic production
B) Biology
C) Sexual division of labor
D) Capitalism

Question 15

Social feminists believe an egalitarian society is possible after women:

A) Own the means of production
B) Have control of their own bodies
C) Comprise 75% of the workplace
D) Commit 50% of crime

Question 16

The gender ratio problem compares women's experiences to that of men and suggests women:

A) Commit less crime
B) Are arrested less
C) Receive shorter sentences
D) Serve more probation

Question 17

Power-control theory suggests that disproportionate control by parents over daughters compared to sons will result in a:

A) Balanced family
B) Egalitarian family
C) Matriarchal family
D) Patriarchal family

Question 18

"Doing gender" is an approach to understanding female criminality that examines:

A) Context
B) Gender roles
C) Discrimination
D) Patriarchy

Question 19

Liberal feminism seeks to increase attention paid to:

A) Female homeownership
B) Patriarchy
C) Women's rights
D) Gender identity

Question 20

Differential association explanations of the gender-ratio differences in crime suggest:

A) Girls are taught definitions favorable to crime
B) Boys are taught definitions favorable to crime
C) Girls and boys are both taught definitions favorable to crime
D) There is no gender-ratio difference in crime

Question 21

How has the term patriarchy been used by scholars to describe women's roles in society? Describe how these descriptions explain crime.

Question 22

What is Marxist feminist criminology? What are the theoretical assumptions of this perspective? How does it explain societal responses to female crime?

Question 23

What are the basic assumptions of power-control theory? How does this theory combine concerns for gender and traditional components of control theory?

Question 24

What is the role of victimization in female offending?

Question 25

Describe the role the family has in shaping female offending. Is the driving force based in strain or learning/differential association theory? Defend your position.

Question 26

A different way of approaching gender and crime is to ask why male crime rates are so high. How do traditional criminological theories explain male's disproportionate involvement in crime?

Question 27

What is the scientific evidence on the role of testosterone and the crime ratio problem? Is the difference in testosterone levels a good explanation of differences in male-female criminality?

Question 28

Why is gender a major and consistent correlate of crime? Which theory best explains this "fact" of crime?

Question 29

Why are more males involved in gangs and gang behavior?

Question 30

Is the gender gap shrinking? What does the research evidence suggest about contemporary crime rates among women?