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Sociological Research MethodsGeneralResearch MethodsInterviewsFeminism

AQA GCSE · Question 08 · Sociological Research Methods

SOURCE TEXT:
Item B

Carlen was interested in explaining female criminality, and conducted ground-breaking research.

She conducted her research using unstructured interviews with 39 women between the ages of 15 and 46, all of whom had been convicted of one or more crimes. According to Carlen, four major reasons were given by the women as to the cause of their criminality: poverty; being in residential care; drug and alcohol addiction; and the quest for excitement.

Although all the women had committed at least one crime for financial gain, most of them agreed that it was one of these four factors which led them to develop criminal careers.

Source: Carlen, P, Women, Crime and Poverty, (1988)

QUESTION:
From Item B, identify and describe the research method used by Carlen, including what you know of her perspective on female criminality.

How to approach this question

First, identify the research method explicitly mentioned in Item B. Then, describe the key features of this method. Finally, link the choice of this method to Carlen's likely sociological perspective (feminism), explaining why a feminist researcher would favour this approach to study female criminality.

Full Answer

The research method used by Carlen, as stated in Item B, was unstructured interviews. This is a qualitative method where the researcher has a list of topics to cover but allows the conversation to flow freely, enabling the women to express their own views in depth. Carlen's feminist perspective suggests she used this method to give a voice to the 39 convicted women and understand their criminality from their own experiences of poverty and powerlessness, rather than imposing a pre-set theory on them. This approach challenges male-stream explanations of crime.
Pat Carlen is a feminist sociologist known for her work on female crime. She argues that traditional criminology is 'malestream' and ignores female offenders. Her research, as described in Item B, used unstructured interviews to gain a rich, qualitative understanding of women's lives and their pathways into crime. She developed the 'control theory', suggesting that women conform to social norms through a 'class deal' (material rewards from work) and a 'gender deal' (rewards from family life). When these deals break down, often due to poverty or abuse, women may turn to crime.

Common mistakes

Only identifying the method without describing it or linking it to Carlen's perspective. Simply quoting from the item is not enough for full marks.
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