1. What national/international police agencies do you know?
2. Which agency in your country deals with cross-border crime?
3. If I wanted to appear on Europol's most wanted list, what would I have to do?
4. What behaviours are deemed as appropriate for men but inappropriate for women?
5. Do you know of any famous/infamous female 'criminals' from history? Have you heard of Anne Bonny, or Bonnie Parker?
Read article here: Crime Has No Gender Reading
6. What is your opinion of this campaign? Has Europol identified a branch of criminality that we should be worried about, or is its campaign a 'solution looking for a problem'?
7. When reporting crime, do complainants take into account the perpetrator's gender?
8. Which of the following do you agree with?
a) Women are more likely than men to be cautioned rather than prosecuted; less likely to be sent to jail; less likely to be arrested.
b) Technology has helped liberate women from the home, and this liberation has allowed them to actively participate in crime.
c) The rise in the female crime rate precedes the women’s liberation movement; ‘liberated’ middle-class women are less likely to be criminal, not more.
d) Women are socialised into an expressive role and expected to be gentle and nurturing – qualities not usually associated with criminality – and men are prepared for an instrumental role and expected to be tough and sometimes aggressive – qualities that may lead to trouble with the law.
e) Criminal organisations exploit gender stereotypes when carrying out crime.
f) The 'glass ceiling' at work prevents women from rising to senior positions where there are more opportunities for white-collar crime.
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Situation
You are a journalist with USA Today. You are attending the press-conference launch of the 'Crime has no gender' campaign. Interview a Europol representative (your teacher) about the motives for this campaign.
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Discuss quotes
“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.”
― Aristotle
“The man who has a conscience suffers whilst acknowledging his sin. That is his punishment.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
“To have once been a criminal is no disgrace. To remain a criminal is the disgrace”
― Malcolm X
“Criminals should be punished, not fed pastries.”
― Lemony Snicket
“I came from a real tough neighborhood. Once a guy pulled a knife on me. I knew he wasn't a professional, the knife had butter on it.”
― Rodney Dangerfield
Student Handout PDF: Crime Gender
Photo: Cottonbro