CCJ4663 Exam 3 Chapter 8 Female Offenders and Their Crimes Gender differences in the proportion of arrests Proportion of Violent Crime Cases is greater for males than females Proportion of Property Crime Cases is greater for females than males The gap in the proportion is closing but men are arrested more than women 7 8 vs 2 8 million The narrowest gap between male and female offending can be found in property crimes Larceny theft Types of Crimes females and males are arrested for o robbery murder Women make up majority of arrests of prostitution Pathway of Drug use for women Much like their male counterparts females are involved in property offenses simple assault Historically women s addiction was constructed as the product of individual women s inability to cope with changing versions of normative femininity Women have similar pathways of depression abuse and social and economic pressures that lead them toward substance use and abuse as a method of coping with their lives o o Introduced to drugs at early age From friends and family Other women began using drugs to cope with childhood abuse and violence or to bring excitement into their lives Anti Drug Abuse Act 1986 Anti Drug Abuse Act passed by Pres Reagan Since the Act has been passed men and women incarceration rates have skyrocketed Made because of the crack cocaine epidemic o Advanced the War on Drugs 2010 Fair Sentencing Act Pres Obama Reduced sentencing disparity between powder crack cocaine 18 to 1 sentencing ratio 5 yr mandatory minimum prison sentence for Possession of 28 grams of crack Possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine 10 yr mandatory minimum prison sentence for Possession of 280 grams of crack cocaine Possession of 5 000 grams of powder cocaine o o o o There has been progress at the federal level Sentencing disparity between powder crack cocaine Fair Sentencing Act 100 to 1 sentencing ratio Offenders who possessed 5 grams of crack Offenders who possessed 500 grams of powder cocaine Received a 5 yr mandatory minimum sentence Sentencing disparities between powder and crack cocaine created a system whereby drug users were treated the same as mid level dealers Crack is more associated with violent crime used in larger quantities more addictive than powder cocaine The media perpetuated this idea o o However they are pharmalogically the same Changes in mandatory minimum structure decreased racial disparities Risk factors for women in prostitution Street level sex work o Most visible venue o Most dangerous form of sex work o o Women who work on the streets higher risk for violence and victimization The venue where most sex workers are arrested Women may trade sex acts for drugs food clothing and shelter 70 women in prostitution have issues with drug addiction Involves a variety of individual contextual environmental factors Abandonment abuse poverty early childhood sexual victimization o Abuse most common Legalization of prostitution Netherlands Sweden Legal prostitution is limited to counties w a population under 400 000 In Nevada o o Reno and Las Vegas are excluded from this limitation o Since 1986 women who work in brothels must be tested weekly o Regulations that occur in brothels In the Netherlands o Act of prostitution had been legal since the 20th century o Brothels were finally legalized in 2000 Created a new way to govern the sex trade o o o In Sweden o o The goals of decriminalization allowed for the government to improve the lives of women in prostitution by creating safe working conditions to create a system of monitoring the sex trade and to regulate illegal activities that might be associated with selling of sexuality such as street crimes associated with prostitution the exploitation of juveniles or the trafficking of women into the sex industry Leading destination for pedophiles and child pornography under the belief that the promotion of legalize prostitution has created opportunities for illegal prostitution in these regions The purchasing of sex from women is a criminal act The belief is that by criminalizing the male demand for sex it may significantly decrease the supply of women who engage in these acts Criminalizing the John Taking a stand against a practice they feel constitutes and act of violence against women Shift from community corrections to incarceration hurt women The introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing represented a major change in the processing of drug offenders The shift led to increases in incarceration rates for drug offenses The presence of crack shifted the culture of street economy particularly for women involved in acts of prostitution The highly addictive nature of crack led more women to the streets in an effort to find a way to get their next high At the same time the flood of women in search of sex work created an economy whereby the value of sexual services significantly decreased The overall rates of crimes other than drug related cases have changed little The War on Drugs had unintended consequences on women How did the shift to incarceration from community supervision affect women o Correctional policies Before more therapeutic After more punitive This is why we see the increase in women in crime Girls and Gangs Liberation Hypothesis vs Social Injury hypothesis o Liberation hypothesis o o Influenced by the emancipation liberation theories of the 1970 s Suggests that the increase of female participation in gangs is related to an increase in opportunities to participate in other traditionally male domains of crime o Girls may experience autonomy and feelings of empowerment as a result of their gang o Girls in gangs experience higher levels of risk danger and injury compared to males activities Social injury hypothesis Initiation process for girls Jumped In Walking the Line o The girls subjected to assault by their fellow gang members Sexed In Pulling a train o Having sex with multiple individuals often males o Continued to receive victimization However not all of these initiation rites came with a high degree of status within the gang as those girls who were sexed in experienced lower levels of respect from gang members Girl gang members who are independent of a male gang vs those who are connected to a male gang For some gang membership is a family affair o Affiliate at early age Others join a gang in search of a new family Girls independent of male gang o Tend to experience high levels of violence as a result of selling drugs and interactions with other