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Part II
Chapter 10
 Construction of explanations of female
behavior that are sensitive to its patriarchal
context
 Examines ways in which agencies of social
control (the police, the courts, and the
persons) act in ways to reinforce a woman’s
place in male society
 It would first and foremost be sensitive to
the situations of girls.
 Negative example: women’s movement
causing increase in women’s crime
Part 2: Ch. 10
 Data show that girls are more likely to be
referred to court by non-law enforcement
agencies (including parents and family)
 This holds true for status charges (in which
girls are overrepresented) as well
Part 2: Ch. 10
 Girls may be trying to escape parents and
families for several reasons:
 Parent’s double standard of behavior at home
may become a source of tension
 Girls are more likely to be victims of child
sexual abuse, which may occur at home
 Studies of girls on the streets, or in legal
custody, show high rates of physical/sexual
abuse
 Studies of adult women in prison who show
high rates of childhood physical/sexual abuse
including rape
Part 2: Ch. 10
 A feminist theory of female delinquency
would recognize these facts:
 Girls may have more reason to run away from
home than boys
 Patriarchy means the abusers (family) can call
authorities to apprehend and/or punish those
daughters/victims
 Girls are more likely to be defined as sexually
desirable
 Once on the streets, their lives are shaped by
patriarchal institutions that devalue women, such
as prostitution
 Girls and women get caught in a vicious cycle
of victimization, delinquency and crime
Part 2: Ch. 10
 Why is a feminist theory of deviance
necessary?
 How do agents of social control reinforce a
female’s place in a male-dominated society?
Part 2: Ch. 10
Part II
Chapter 11
Part 3: Ch. 12
 Show how social life shapes everything
people know
 Introduce term “social constructionism” to
wide audience, which implies that problems
are assigned particular meanings via social
interaction
Part 2: Ch. 11
 Conflict theorists charged it ignored how
elites shape deviance definitions
 Feminists charged it ignored women’s
victimization by men
 Gay rights activists and others argued they
were political minorities, not deviants
Part 2: Ch. 11
Part 2: Ch. 11
 Some labeling-oriented sociologists began to
move away from the study of deviance
 Kitsuse led several in study of how and why
specific social problems emerged as topics of
public concern
 Redefined social problems as claims by
certain interest groups or claims-makers
that a particular set of social conditions
were a problem
Part 2: Ch. 11
Part 2: Ch. 11
The Return to Deviance
 Constructionists’ study of social problems
still reflected themes of deviance:
 Construction of rape, child abduction, illicit
drugs, family violence
 Many studies traced rise of social problems
on national level such as War on Drugs
 Others looked at how problems were
translated into action by police officers,
social workers, and others
 Example:
The way police and the courts construct and
label perpetrators and victims of family
violence
Part 2: Ch. 11
Part 2: Ch. 11
Constructionism’s Domain
 Today this approach is an influential stance
for the study of deviance at macro and micro
levels, and for how and why particular forms
of deviance emerge as a concern
 It emphasizes the interpretive work whereby
various persons assign meaning and make
sense of behavior as deviant
Part 2: Ch. 11
 What are the advantages of studying social
problems?
 What does the constructionist perspective
emphasize and how does it differ from other
perspectives of deviance?
Part 2: Ch. 11