Research and study on the deviant woman

Research and sketch on the aberrant womanLiving in a closure which had totally ignored women and the accept of womanish person deviance (prior to sixties), Professor Frances Heidensohn saw, as different criminologists, the immediate need for research and study on the deviant woman. As a pioneer of womens liberationist perspectives in criminologyi, Heidensohns work pull up stakesd the withal oftentimes mans land of criminology and how women get at a land place ones skin been below the belt treated and neglected in previous studies. Heidensohn is considered to be a revolutionist in this survey of criminology cod to her pre-womens liberationist work (Heidensohn 1968 and 1970) on the invisibleness and silence surrounding the distaff treatdoerii.Throughout her work and extensive research on a variety of diametric writers and criminologists, she stressed the lack of attention on gender dimensions and the tendency to over-sexualise women crimes. understandably upset of t his status quo, she pointed out also the necessity of taking into level autobiographical experiences of distaff offenders, who atomic number 18 the actual objects of this study. Frances Heidensohn a professor in the Department of Sociology at London School of Economics, by her investigation on the study of gender in the context of crime, could be said to have set the foundations for next generations studies on feminist perspectives in criminology. Her biggest question sugar was why the chapter of women and crime has been buried for such a long eon and why thither has been a reverse to examine such an authorised issue. Most of her books and articles emphasize to provide adequate aetiologies to all these question marks. Fortunately, things changed since the 1960s and feminism criminology was developed. As Heidensohn suggested in a metaphorical way, Like a wardrobe of new exciting clothes, a self-colored treasure generated in criminology. It offers us a great deal more to en rich our association of women and crime. But at that place is much more on offer too.iiiIn other words, Professor Heidensohn held that even thought feminist criminology has been developed thither are still many gaps and much more to be done. Thus, Heidensohn lighten the path towards the discretion of pistillate criminology.In the field of criminological study and most sociological research and writing, analyses of criminal women cannot be found onward the 1960s. But even where they are considered, they are subject to marginalising and distorting manipulation as Oakley noted in 1982ivor correspondingly as Klein suggested female ungodliness has often ended up as footnote to works on men that purport to be works on criminality in generalv. This lack of interest was really surprising in Heidensohns look.viAs Frances Heidensohn noted in an important early article on deviance, nearly no serious scholarship has been undertaken to explain the dramatic difference among male and fe male law of naturebreaking.viiHence, this status quo, which was much more due to male command, impelled her to start an extensive research on the subject to provide sufficient answers to all these questions raised. What was commutation to her work was the amnesia and neglect of women in previous studies in criminology and the fact that even where women were recognised, they were depicted in ground of pigeonholes and based on their supposed biological and psychological natureviii. Her study argument which she highlights in all of her books, articles is the necessity of exploring gender in scathe of understanding crime.Her discussion was concerned with ain experiences and autobiographies of women offenders in analogy to the courts, the law and the police. She strongly stressed that at all levels women have been treated other than than men and in some cases harsher. Under the provisions of criminal law, women are theoretically equal to men. Conversely, she underlined that in ma ny cases the laws on prostitution, for instance, prejudice against women and in general there is tendency to over-sexualise female crime. Frances Heidensohn objected this attitude towards female crime. harlotry was seen completely as sexual deviance and not as the keen-sighted choice for some women who need the financial support for themselves and their children (Heidensohn, 1968, p.168)ix. Klein also divided this opinion. Furthermore, criminal laws and attorneys tended to apply stereotype notions of what a comely woman is and does and triple presumptions such as virgin and whore were make when dealing with female offenders. Yet, Heidensohn did not criticise that and she recognised that one cannot divorce the law and lawyer from the society in which they operate with its enormous cultural heritage and traditionsx.Although she did point about the too much mens world that existed, truly annoyed by the domination of men in administration as well as in the draft of legislation because of the implications that had on female offenders. Further, the courts even though women committed fewer and less serious crimes than men, were often harsher with women. According to Frances Heidensohn, there were several reasons that explained this stance by the courts. One of the strongest arguments that she made was that female criminals were considered to be doubly-deviant. Women criminals were very rare phenomena, a fact that biased the behaviour of the courts towards them. As Heidensohn had pointed out in one of her earliest presumptions, Women defendants therefore seem exotic and thus less comprehensible than men they offend both against societys behavioural rules about property, drinking, or violence and also against the most fundamental norms which rate sex-role behaviourxi(Heidensohn, 1970, p.134). In other words, if they had been morally wrong, then they will be punished more Courts and other agencies treat women as deviant double over they have broken criminal l aw and affable expectations of proper female behaviour.xiiIn addition, the whole court procedure is something particularly bewildering, stranger and unfair to female offenders.xiiiWhile doing her research, Frances Heidensohn gave a great emphasis on the stereotype notions and the genial touchstones that the society held for criminal women. In patriarchal societies, women were perceived as a source of disorder. Moral values and accepted social standards, especially in previous periods of time, rendered women subject to stricter rules. Moreover, the witch image as well as that of the whore seemed to be the key portrayals of the deviant women. The stereotype of witchcraft, which has always been linked to women, gave the idea of deviant women as especially evil, perverted and monstrousxiv. On the other hand, the tendency to sexualise the female offences pictured them as whores. Professor Heidensohn argued that no such notions exist, equivalent to male deviants. On the contrary, mal e deviants either receive public approval-boys will be boys,- or are at least more positively portrayedxv. She continue her argument and she strongly criticized the role the media had overplayed in forming these ideas male offenders in novels, films were presented as heroes, something that affected the public reaction and opinion.In reviewing traditional criminology and classical criminological writers, Heidensohn observed that female criminality was determined by their biology and psychology. Lombroso the drive of criminology, and Ferreros research, which focused on the meditation of the skulls, bones and appearance of female criminals, came to the termination that women deviants could be recognised by their physical appearance and they had very similar characteristics to male deviants. Women criminals like their masculine counterparts, had certain allegedly atavistic features, notably unfeminine features and built and dark masculine hair.xviAdditionally, they claimed that crimin al women are abnormal. following these lines, Professor Heidensohn found herself contrary to this presumption. She argued that his analysis of photographs of fallen women is as nonsubjective as adjudication in a beauty contest.xviiFurthermore, Lombroso and Ferreros theories did not provide us an adequate and precise understanding of female crime.What they did show us was the essay to rationalise and justify the status quo, the existing position of women and the double standard of morals of their day.xviiiThus they did not draw away from the stereotype notions and the doubled assumptions about women (good or bad, normal or abnormal).Deviant Womens experiences was a central method used by Frances Heidensohn and feminist writers towards the understanding of female offense submerging on the researched and their experiences. Even though this methodology received much objurgation (Ramazanoglu and Holland 2002)xix, Heidensohn and Gelsthorpe argued that close reading of feminist discu ssions ultimately reveal no fixed absolutes beyond the need for sensitivity in the research task, for personal reflexivity and commitment to make the research relevant to women.xxThis methodology vested women the overcompensate to speak for themselves, their experiences, their feelings and thoughts. The technique of viewing the world through womens eyes was prospering in making women visible in criminology and additionally created awomens world too. The concentration on womens experiences led to some essential developments in female criminology and feminist contributions to criminology. Feminism standpoitism as Harding puts it (1987)xxireflected the concept of viewing the world through womens eyes and encouraged both theoretical and personal reflexivity in relation to knowledge and the process of knowledge production through research.xxiiHowever, the key outlook of focusing on the experiences of female criminals was that it rendered gender as the basis of understanding and interp reting crime and social conduct rather than simply as a statistical variable.As a synopsis of her study, Frances Heidensohn argued that what seems to be involve in the study of female deviance is a crash programme of research which telescopes decades of comparable studies of males.xxiiiAlso, she was consistent with what Mannheim recommended, who held that an objective and scientific approach should try to treat female crime as a topic in its own right.xxivShe therefore concluded in her book on Women and aversion that in order to gain understanding on women and crime other analyses such as family life, position and social control of women, male dominance should be taken into account. Arguably, she supported that this could not be achieved through feminist criminology or sociology of deviance.xxvFrances Heidensohns observations have not been subject to too much criticism as Lombrosos or other criminologists theories. However, some points that she did make were subject to statement and disapproval. Allison Morris was one of those who contravened with some of her presumptions. Her enantiosis was basically on the fact that the criminal evaluator system is a peculiarly alien an unfamiliar worldxxvisolely for women. Morrison focused on the belief that criminal law is sexist in the treatment of deviant girls and women and she went on to say that such factors as extend, family plenty and commitments, types of offence and previous record all clearly mediate the treatment of both female and male defendants and may be that some of those factors are as important as gender, if not more so.xxviiIndeed, Heidensohn relied on this assumption that sex is the most crucial aspect and that it is not only women who are being deprived in the criminal justice system. However, what Morrison strongly argued was Heidensohns failure to identify other groups of people who could be treated unfairly under the criminal system or the court could be biased against them and to whom the wh ole process might be unfamiliar and alien. Such groups of people, as Morris suggests could be for young black and working -class men or minorities.xxviiiFinally, she pointed out that it is wrong to present womens experiences in the criminal justice system as a unitary experience. We know that black women are over-represented in our prisons. We need to be able to account for this.xxixIn my personal opinion Morrison made a full disclosure of the reality that minorities or black people or people of different social standards, could also be treated unfairly in court or could be subject to discriminatory wrongs. She made a very strong argument which did take into account and tried to defend other social and powerless groups and not only women, something that Heidensohn failed to do. Moreover, that could be the basis for other perceptions that Heidensohn provided. This is the one of economical rationality or that of stigma. consequently it is not only women who can be motivated by the economic needs to commit a crime people of a lower class can commit crimes as a result of exiguity or it is not only women who fear the idea of being stigmatised by their offences. Carlen Pat also argued at this part that this stance could cause race or class conflicts. Finally, in general Carlen suggested that no feminism guess could offer aetiologies to three major issues concerning female delinquency that womens crimes are in the main, the crimes of the powerless that women in prison are disproportionately from ethic nonage groups and that a majority of women in prison have been in beggary for the greater part of their lives.xxxSynoptically, Frances Heidensohns contribution to criminology was enormous in relation to female offenders. It could be said as having two sides of a coin. Her research in conjunction with that of other feminist criminologists illuminated the path towards the understanding of the female deviance. However, even though they shed some light on it there are still some dark aspects. As Frances Heidensohn pointed out, the study of female deviance has still a long way to go. The most crucial drawback that I can identify in her work was the lack of shape of other factors that could play a valid role in the field of understanding crime such as race, class, nationality, age and other social characteristics rather than only focusing on gender dimensions and giving privileges only to women.