Feminist Theories of Crime and Deviance - Heidensohn | A Level Sociology

welcome to this tutor to you sociology topic video on feminist theories of crime and deviance looking at the work of francis heidenson heidensen like carlin adopted a control theory approach to try and understand the differences in offending between males and females she suggested that the level of patriarchal control in different spheres of social life was responsible for the

lower levels of female criminality compared to male criminality heidensen focused particularly on the ways in which women were controlled in public controlled through domestic responsibilities and through the hierarchical structures of employment and that these forms of control led to less opportunities for women to commit crime and therefore lower levels of female criminality

heidensen's research was based on the differing ideologies that were dominant within separate spheres of social life she argued that males and females had different spheres in which they were dominant and that these explain the differing opportunities that males and females had for committing crime females were more dominant in the domestic sphere with women being based

in the home looking after children and having the primary responsibilities for domestic labor this limited their opportunities for criminality males on the other hand are more dominant in the public and work spheres they look to exercise their dominance over women through physical force in relationships and through legitimate power in employment hanson explained that women's

opportunities for crime are restricted by their responsibilities in the home not only by being kept occupied with domestic labour and child care but also through social expectations of women to be the perfect wife for mother something that was reinforced not only by men but by other women as well this limits the opportunities for