Reply to the following discussion: I do believe that greater participation in the workplace and more economic equality for will decrease their participation in crime because, women tend to turn to crime due to the absence of meaningful opportunities. Even in this modern age where we have made some strides to level the playing field, a significant number of women remain unemployed and underpaid. “This is supported by statistics showing that the bulk of female offenders are either unemployed or concentrated in a ‘pink-collar ghetto’ where pay is low and work is unrewarding (Williams & McShane, 2018).” Also, female offenses tend to be mostly oriented around petty property crime, which tends to a repose to poverty and or economic insecurity. There also, seem to be a correlation between, a community with a growing amount of women working part-time, and a increase of female crime arrest in the community. “About 4 in 10 women in State prison reported that they had been employed full-time prior to their arrest. By contrast, nearly 6 in 10 male inmates had been working full-time prior to arrest (Greenfeld & Snell, 1999).” There is definitely a increase in the amount of women committing crimes because, “the number of women on probation increased by 40 percent, the number of women in jail increased by 60 percent, the number of women in prison increased by 88 percent, and the number of women under parole supervision increased by 80 percent (Chesney-Lind, 1999).” Furthermore, when there is a large percentage of women living below the poverty line in a community, the amount of violent crimes committed by women increase as well. Just like when men aren’t presented with legitimate opportunities women turn to illegal acts so they can make ends meet. So, by giving women equal workplace representation and economic equality, you giving more legitimate opportunities to live, which would in-turn decrease crime rate.
The social control theory in chapter 11 I support is the Containment Theory because, it explains delinquency as the interplay between two forms of control, internal, and external. The reason I support this theory, is because it goes into the factors that contributes to a person having a good internal control, and also explains how this internal control can act as a buffer to outside influences. A person with a good internal control would have, “self-control, good self-concept, ego strength, well-developed superego, high frustration tolerance, high resistance to diversions, high sense of responsibility, goal orientation, and the ability to find substitute satisfactions (Williams & McShane, 2018).” These factors, provide a explanation to why some people from poverty stricken neighborhoods resist the urge to commit crimes despite it being everywhere, and they try to make it in life through legitimate means. Someone with a strong sense of self might view themselves as confident in their ability to succeed, and is very driven to make it happen. Where as, someone with a low sense of self, might view themselves as destined to live in their current environment forever, which would make them more prone to commit criminal acts. In this theory examples of external control factors includes, family, school reinforcement of social norms and values, effective supervision, and discipline, reasonable opportunities, for social activity, availability of alternatives to deviance, and acceptance of identity. A person with a person with both weak internal and external factors are in grave danger of committing delinquent acts. But in this theory it is more import to have strong internal control rather than external control, because it believes a persons environment has little effect on a person if he or she has a strong sense of self. This is a statement I support because, I believe that if a person has a strong positive mindset, it is nearly impossible to influence them to do negative things.
References:
Chesney-Lind, M. (1999). Women and the Criminal Justice System: Gender Matters (dissertation)
Greenfeld, L., & Snell, T. (1999, December). Women Offenders. Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/wo.pdf.
Williams, F.P., & McShane, M.D. (2018). Criminology theory (7thed.). Pearson.
Below is the original assignment that was completed, however I need a reply to that above.
Two fold question for discussion:
(1) Do you think that greater participation in the workplace and more economic equality for women will increase or decrease their participation in crime? Explain your answer.
(2) Which of the social control theories in Chapter 11 do you support and why?
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