Theories on Women Offender
Adler’s Theory of Masculinity
➢ Freda Adler's book entitled Sister in crime: The Rise of a New Female Criminal has helped to
developed the masculinity theory.
➢ Adler argued that, women are involved in more crime due to the increasing participation of women
in social movements. The changed role of female in family and the feelings of independence in her
work and thought. These factors promote the “masculinization process of women” role in society.
➢ The main premise of this theory is that criminalities of women are mainly dependent on the
masculinity behavior of female. The empowered women are involved in more serious violent crime
than non-empowered women due to masculinity.
OPPORTUNITY THEORY
➢ It was created by Rita J. Simon in her work, “Women and Society”
➢ This theory argue that the involvement of criminal activities is increased when women have different
opportunities. Increasing opportunities of women reduced the rates of violent female offending, but
increased the rates of property crimes.
➢ Simon argues that historically males are more active in crime because of their greater social
opportunities, competences, and networking than females.
➢ In broader social context, if female opportunity, efficiency, and social communication are increased,
then the rate of female criminality increases accordingly.
➢
Marginalization theory
➢ Meda Chesney-Lind and Kathleen Daly: Women and Crime: The Female Offender.
➢ Marginality (low salary; inadequate job; lower class position; family victimization) of a woman
penetrates criminality in contemporary societies.
➢ Those women are motivated to commit crimes as rational response to poverty and economic
uncertainty that they perceived.
➢ They pointed out women’s unemployment, inadequate labor charges, and the increase in the number
of members in the home, that is, the care for the large family, which leads to a reduction in the
domestic budget and on her free time can make women crime prone.
➢ Kathleen Daly developed a new term in criminology that emphasizes women’s involvement in
professional criminality.
➢ The term “Pink Collar crime” appears as a counterpart to the “white collar crime” which in turn is
nothing but a “professional crime committed by members of the upper ruling and business circles,
who use their influences and connections in the society to perform crimes that bring tremendous
material benefit to them, and for the citizens and society a great deal of damage”.
➢ According to Daly, “Pink collar Crime” is carried out by women whose office jobs can be
characterized as being set on a low to medium level, or more simply speaking, at a position as
accountants, managers, officers, etc. which embezzlement from their employers.
➢ That is women who may not have carrying, main functions but still have enough powers and
opportunities to commit fraud or theft at their jobs.
Critical Feminism Theory
➢ It is also known as Marxist feminist;
➢ This theory holds that gender inequality stems from the unequal power of men and women and the
subsequent exploitation of women by men;
➢ The cause female criminality originates with the onset of male supremacy and the efforts of males to
control female sexuality.
➢ Women are a “commodity” like land or money. That male exploitation acts as a trigger for female
criminal or delinquent.
Power Control theory
➢ It was created by John L. Hagan and suggest that class influences delinquency and criminality by
controlling the quality of family life.
➢ In egalitarian families, in which the husband and the wife share similar positions of power at home
and in the workplace-daughters gain a kind of freedom that reflects reduced parental control.
➢ These families produce daughters whose law violating behavior mirror those of their brothers. The
daughters of successful and powerful mothers are more at risk of delinquency than the daughters
of stay-at-home mothers.
Chivalry or Patternalism theory
➢ It was created by Otto Pollak in his boo, “The Criminality of Women” who argues that in a patriarchal
society, women are treated more leniently than men because women are believed to be born
biologically inferior and in need of protection from men.
➢ Paternalism theory further states that traditional women are treated with extreme leniency due to
chivalry resulting from paternalistic attitudes within a patriarchal society.
➢ According to Franklin and Fearne, the presencs of patriarchy in American society as evident when
considering wage differences between the genders.
➢ Furthermore, the author argue that women are underrepresented in positions of authority such as
political and economic occupations. This lack of female leadership is likely due to the preconceived
notion that females are less effective at leadership than are men.
➢ Women, viewed as physically weak and inherently sexual, are most frequently victimized through the
use of rape and domestic violence, both of which demonstrate male domination, power disparities,
and the biologically inferior female body.
