Information about Gender And Crime

For crimes involving sexuality, see Sex and law or Gender crime.

Attempts in various fields have tried to explore a possible relation between gender and crime. Such studies may belong to criminology, sociobiology (which attempts to demonstrate a causal relationship between biological factors, in this case sex, and human behaviors), etc. Despite the difficulty to interpret them, crime statistics may provide a way to investigate such a relationship, whose possible existence would be interesting from a gender differences perspective. An observable difference might be due to biological factors (as sociobiological theories claim) or to social and cultural factors. Furthermore, the nature of the crime itself must be considered. Gender and crime matters are often viewed through the perspective of violent crimes, in an attempt to justify common stereotypes that men are more "aggressive" than women. However, such a thesis has yet to be proven. It first requires a pre-definition of "aggressivity", usually related to alleged masculine traits.

Aggressivity and gender

Further information: Aggression

Although it is a common stereotype that in the human species, males are more aggressive than females, a perspective which violent crime statistics may allegedly support (with the possible exception of crimes of passion, which have been highly reduced with the legalization of divorce during the 20th century), not all scientists agree on the definition of "aggressivity." Some researchers have suggested that females are not necessarily less aggressive, but that they tend to show their aggression in less overt, less physical ways. For example, females may display more verbal and relational aggression, such as social rejection. ^{[1] [2]}.

Sociobiological perspective

Further information: Sociobiology

Even mild reductions in levels of the male hormone testosterone are associated with reduced outward expressions of anger.

One study showed that women were more likely than men to deem certain behaviors that are criminal or unethical, such as inflating an insurance claim or using "cheap foreign labor", to be less acceptable (Fisher, 1999).

Statistics data

Warning: crime statistics may be difficult to interpret and should be subject to caution.

In the United States

Further information: Crime in the United States

In the United States, men are much more likely to be incarcerated than women. Nearly 9 times as many men (5,037,000) as women (581,000) were incarcerated in a State or Federal prison at year end 2001. However, women are the fastest-growing demographic group in prison [1].

In 2004, males were almost 10 times more likely than females to commit murder. Men are also far more likely than women to be the victims of violent crime, with the exception of rape.[2][3]

In Canada

Further information: Crime in Canada

According to a Canadian Public Health Agency report, the rate of violent crime doubled among male youth during the late 1980s and 1990s, while it almost tripled among female youth. It rose for the latter from 2.2 per 1,000 in 1988 to a peak of 5.6 per 1,000 in 1996, and began to decline in 1999. Some researchers have suggested that the increase on crime statistics could be partly explained by the stricter approach to schoolyard fights and bullying, leading to a criminalization of behaviours now defined as "assault" behaviours (while they were simply negatively perceived before). The increase in the proportion of female violent crime would thus be explained more by a change in law enforcement policies than by effective behaviour of the population itself. According to the report aforementioned, "Evidence suggests that aggressive and violent behaviour in children is linked to family and social factors, such as social and financial deprivation; harsh and inconsistent parenting; parents’ marital problems; family violence, whether between parents, by parents toward children or between siblings; poor parental mental health; physical and sexual abuse; and alcoholism, drug dependency or other substance misuse by parents or other family members." ^[3].

See also

• Sex and intelligence
• Race and crime
• Nature versus Nurture

References

Bibliography

• Campbell, Anne (1984). The Girls in the Gang: A Report from New York City (Olympic Marketing Corp) ISBN 978-0631133742
• Fisher, J. (1999). "Ethics Check". CMA Management Magazine, 36-37
• Bibliography on "Girls and Violence" on the University of Glasgow's website
• Other bibliography concerning gender & crime with descriptions, from the Oxford University Press on-line ressources

External links

• Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974-2001
• Most victims and perpetrators in homicides are male U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics

•  • [ e] Human group differences
Race and intelligence