Female Drug Users - Assignment Example

Female Drug Users (Insert Name) (Institution Affiliation) Female Drug Users Trends in recent use by female police arrestees of cannabis, amphetamine, methyl amphetamine, and heroin Case study of female drug users from an article in The Guardian newspaper. The feminist theory on criminology The masculinity theory The critical theory Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Case study: Women Inside 5 3.0 Criminology Theories 6 3.1 Radical Feminist Theory 6 3.2 Hegemonic Masculinity Theory 7 3.3 Critical Race theory 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 1.0 Introduction Drug use among female seems to be on the rise in many parts of Australia as well as other parts of the world. According to recent research on arrestees, substance use and abuse is greater among the female as compared to the male arrestees (Inciardi & Surratt, 2001). The studies indicate that the number of females who have been arrested for drug offences has increased significantly over the past few years. The female drug offenders are also likely to be involved in non-violent crimes such as petty larceny, prostitution and possession of illicit drugs such as marijuana, heroin and alcohol. Generally, men and women have different pathways that lead them into crime and distinct motivating factors for committing a certain crime. In female, drug and substance abuse has been highlighted as a prominent factor that motivates them into committing crimes. Women has a tendency of misusing both illicit and prescription drugs due to a number of reasons which include relieving stress, self-medication of mental illness and past traumas (Maher et al, 2006). Men on the other hand use drug for recreational purposes unlike women who engage in substance abuse to reduce tension, improve mood and cope with problems in life. There are various social and health implications that are often associated with misuse of drugs among females. Majority of female drug users usually engage in prostitution, fraud and larceny theft which are accompanied with other risks including but not limited to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (Inciardi & Surratt, 2001). Majority of women drug offenders have been found to favor drugs such as amphetamine, benzodiazepine, heroin and street morphine which are inject able. This paper addresses the issue about gender and crime which have been traditionally neglected in many criminology studies. 2.0 Case study: Women Inside In his article that was published on The Age, Ian Munro brings to light the reason behind increasing number of women in Victoria prisons despite the relentless government attempts to reduce these numbers (Munro, 2010). Vicki Roach, an indigenous Australian confessed to using illicit drugs since the age of 13 years and was arrested, convicted and sent to prison at the age of 17 years due to use of heroine. According to the article, the state government formulated a policy which was commonly known as better pathways in 2005, which was aimed at responding to the concerns that were being aired regarding the flow on effects of women being in prison (Munro, 2010). The state government introduced some measure to curb the surging number of female drug offenders and helping them through community based orders. Ash narrates a story about how she ended up in prison. At the age of 14, she started smoking dope and stealing her mother’s tranquilizers. Since she was young and poor, she started shoplifting and later on got engaged in a whirlwind of burglaries and other crimes in order to satisfy her amphetamine habit (Munro, 2010). The number of women in prison is currently surging due to longer sentences; advance in police technologies, general population growth, and more arrests resulting from increased police operations which results in more first timers going to jail (Munro, 2010). Sue Macgregor, a Melbourne lawyer, argues that the female offenders are more violent partly due to the effects of illicit drugs. Under the influence, they are no longer needle jockeys or marijuana smokers but they are dangerous to the society (Munro, 2010). She further says that the female drug users are using amphetamines, and other stimulants that make them more aggressive and end up assaulting members of the general public and threatening even the aged. 3.0 Criminology Theories Crime can never be understood without gender consideration. Often, crime is thought to be essentially shaped by various different social experiences in which power is exercised by both male and female (Miller & Mullins, 2006). However, a male dominated social system with descent through the male line is the prevalent structure that shapes the gender related power and social experiences. Men may at times use crime to force control over the female and to demonstrate societal ideals of masculinity. 3.1 Radical Feminist Theory This theory is based on the concept of patriarchy which refers to the system by which men systematically benefit from the oppression of women. Radical feminism inspects how women came to occupy the subservient roles, how societies can be transformed and what male power consists of. Feminism has exerted considerable influence on contemporary public debates of social, moral, and legal issues; indeed, it has to a large extent determined their agenda. Any attempt at tackling such issues as marriage, abortion, or prostitution, must take into account feminist views and arguments. Failure to do so would be considered reason enough to question its seriousness and relevance. Biologically, women are naturally less involved in criminal activities as compared to their male counterparts. However, women tend to be more involved in masked crimes whereby their routine activities allow them greater opportunities for concealing crime (pollak, 2006). Furthermore, the maternal roles of women usually lessen the impact of economic status deprivation which makes them to strain to achieve their needs especially if they are using drugs. All the feminists share the goals which are primarily aimed at understanding the root of gender inequality in criminology as well as advocating for changes in order to empower women. Gender criminology basically includes the theoretical framework on gender inequality and gender related crimes (Walklate, 2012). Feminist criminology generally refers to a body of criminology theory and research that establish the study criminal justice and crime within an intricate understanding that the social world is generally shaped by relations of gender and sex. To a greater extent, the feminist theory is about identifying the core forces which are responsible for subordination of female to the male through pattern recognition. The knowledge about the patterns of both men and women drug abuse and the associated crime can help one have a better understanding of criminology (Rafter, 2013). Explanations of the differences in etiology between men and women is often focused on the cultural constructs such as gender socialization, feminine and masculine traits but women who are involved in drug abuse are more vulnerable than their male counterparts 3.2 Hegemonic Masculinity Theory The concept of hegemonic masculinity has considerably influence the recent thinking of gender, social hierarchy and men although it was formulated a few decades ago (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Hegemonic masculinity provides a link between the popular anxieties about boys and men, social models of gender and feminist accounts of patriarchy as well as issues related to gender violence. Hegemonic masculinity was initially understood as the pattern of practice or things that are done that allowed dominance of men over women to persist. The concept also had influence in criminology (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). The information from various studies shows that men perpetrate more of the conventional crimes then their female counterparts do. Men also have a monopoly in the perpetration of the white collar crimes as well as hooliganism. However, the concept of masculinity is criticized for being framed on a hetero normative conception of gender that often essentializes the male –female difference and in the process ignores the crucial difference and execution within the gender category. Female drug users are usually perpetrators of various forms of crime but in many occasions, they are often associated with crimes that are non- violent in nature. Therefore, masculinity is one of the core construct for understanding of violence and crime. Dominance, toughness and the absolute willingness to do anything including resorting to violence in order to resolve simple interpersonal conflicts represent a few characteristics of the masculine identity (Daly, 2010). The masculinity issue which is closely linked to the violence and other crimes is at the central part of criminology thought. Historically, the gendered nature of male offending is usually normalized but has neither been theorized nor explored properly. However, much of the research especially in criminology is generally reflected on the salience of masculinity in order to better understand the concept of criminal behavior. 3.3 Critical Race theory Critical race theory begins with a number of general insight one of which suggests that racism is normal and since it is an ingrained feature of the landscape, it looks normal and natural to individuals in the culture. Rules and laws thus insist on treating blacks and whites differently thus allowing injustices even in the criminal justice system. Crime, most commonly violence motivated by prejudice, bias or hatred towards a particular group of which the victim is presumed to be a member. As such, hate crime is generally directed towards a class of people; the individual victim is rarely significant to the perpetrator and is most commonly a stranger to him or her (Hagan, 2010). According to the race theory on criminology, inequality in skin color, material wellbeing and power often creates conditions that lead to both corporate crime and street crime (Hagan, 2010). In addition, capitalism and its market economy are criminogenic since they bring into existence a large inequality which impoverishes many people and provide vast opportunities for exploitation by the powerful (Miller, & Mullins, 2006). In a capitalist society, the white completely control all the means of production which gives them the ultimate control of the political as well as the state. Consequently, they exploit this power to manipulate the proletariat and ensure they are powerless thus enabling the elite to have both legal and economic control (Hagan, 2010). The criminal justice system is therefore used to ensure that the powerless are under control. This is why female drug users are more likely to be arrested than their male counterparts. Conclusion There is strong evidence indicating that drug and substance abuse usually manifests itself differently in the lives of female and male and it is essentially linked to the social cultures and gender based organizations (Maher et al, 2006). The gender lens also shows that feminism and masculinity has an impact on the substance abuse whereby the two groups portray different kinds of crimes after indulging illicit drugs. References Daly, K. (2010). Feminist perspectives in criminology: A review with Gen Y in mind. The Sage handbook of criminological theory. Ellis, A., Sloan, J., & Wykes, M. (2012). ‘Moatifs’ of masculinity: The stories told about ‘men’in British newspaper coverage of the Raoul Moat case. Crime, Media, Culture. Hagan, F. E. (2010). Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and criminal behavior. Sage Publications, Incorporated. Inciardi, J. A., & Surratt, H. L. (2001). Drug use, street crime, and sex-trading among cocaine-dependent women: implications for public health and criminal justice policy. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 33(4), 379-389. Maher, L., Jalaludin, B., Chant, K. G., Jayasuriya, R., Sladden, T., Kaldor, J. M., & Sargent, P. L. (2006). Incidence and risk factors for hepatitis C seroconversion in injecting drug users in Australia. Addiction, 101(10), 1499-1508. Mason, G., & Stubbs, J. (2010). Feminist Approaches to Criminological Research. CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH METHODS, D. Gadd, S. Karstedt, S. Messner, eds., Sage Publishing, Forthcoming. Miller, J., & Mullins, C. W. (2006). The status of feminist theories in criminology. Taking stock: The status of criminological theory, 15. Munro, I. (2010, June 22). The women inside. Retrieved April 2, 2013, from The Age : http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/the-women-inside-20100621-ysac.html Rafter, N. (2013). Gender, Genes, and Crime: An Evolving Feminist Agenda. Gender and Justice: New Concepts and Approaches, 211-21. Walklate, S. (Ed.). (2012). Gender and crime. Routledge. Read More