Women and social control

Abstract

‘Social control’ is a term which has become associated with two rather different approaches to the study of crime and deviance. In the first place, it is a key concept in the interactionist and other approaches to deviance. Numerous studies attest to the importance of examining the institutions (and their complex interrelationships) which form the ‘control’ apparatus of society: the police (Manning, 1977) the media (Cohen, 1980) and the courts (Carlen, 1976). These studies have demystified social control, showing, for example how attempts to combat crime by bringing in more policemen, can actually increase its recorded incidence, or that repeated imprisonment is very unlikely to ‘reform’ offenders. Second, a specific set of theories called ‘control theories’ has been developed over the past two decades which have emphasised bonding — in relation to family, peer group and school — as a control mechanism which reduces criminality. In further refinements, situational characteristics are linked to bonds to explain patterns of delinquency. Both approaches to social control have considerable salience for the understanding of female criminality and I want in this chapter to discuss the system, bond and situational aspects of control in relation to women.