Women and Crimes: Gender Factors - Essay Example

WHY DO WOMEN COMMIT FEWER CRIMES THAN MEN? Introduction Gender and crime has been an interesting topic for many scholars as they try to understand why men are more likely to commit crime than women (Lauritsen, Karen and James, 2009, p. 361). These scholars have come up with many explanations ranging from the socio-cultural, biological, economic and political perspectives. Psychologists have not reached a common agreement on what exactly causes human violence. Some have argued that violent behaviors are learnt, while others say they are inherited and a portion of the psychologists associate the behaviors to mental illness. Unfortunately all these arguments do not clearly explain why there more occurrences of crime among men than women (Campbell, Muncer and Bibel, 2001, p. 481). Recent studies have indicated that the ratio of crime between men and women is approximately 3 to 1 respectively. The following discussions present the most likely factors attributed to this trend associated with our societies. Socio-Cultural Factors According to Currie (2007, p. 175) societies socialize male individuals to assume aggressive characteristics as a survival strategy. Society expects men to be strong so as to stand up for their rights whenever need arises. Furthermore a man was given the sole responsibility of providing security for his family. Due to the high expectations on man by society, men sometimes tend to prove their strength by engaging in crime. A man who cannot stand up for his rights is considered to be a weakling and such man may be denied respect in society (Lauritsen, Karen & James (2009.p. 368). Consequently men opt do anything at their disposal even using violent means to show how strong they are. Campbell, Muncer & Bibel (2001, p. 484) contends that on the other hand, women are considered to be the weaker sex by society and a woman who commits in crime is seen to deviate from the nature of society. Society describes a normal woman to be loving, patient, caring and understanding. A criminal woman is not fit for marriage according to society because it considers her to lack the actual traits of a mother. A mother will always be there for her family and no criminal activity can ever cross her mind. From the societies’ expectations of women, women restrict themselves from committing crime (Currie, 2007. P179). However this does not mean that women do not commit crime, they commit crime but at a very low rate compared to that of men. In addition, the way society distributes gender roles also restrict women from committing crime. Women are always within their families trying to care for their families while are expected to be out there in effort to get something for their families (Lauritsen, Karen & James, 2009. P372). Within the family, a woman only interacts with her people thus the chances of being aggressive with them are very minimal. Men however are exposed to the chances of meeting all kinds of people; rude, mad, dictators and even abusers! It takes courage for one to deal with all these characters and sometimes violence seems the best solution in cases of a misunderstanding. Currie (2000, p. 183) asserts that such gender variations see men commit serious crimes ranging from murder to robbery. Women also as they are confined in their families have been seen to commit crimes such as child abuse. The major responsibility assigned to man by both society and God is to be a family’s bread winner. According to Lauritsen, Karen and James (2009, p. 399), this responsibility has seen a majority of men commit crimes in the guise of providing for their families. In situations of retrenchment, early retirement and termination of contracts, men have been observed to result to criminal activities so as to ensure that their families do not go hungry. The commonly crime activities that men engage in include kidnapping, robbery and car jerking (Campbell, Muncer and Bibel, 2001, p. 497). They do all these in order to feel sufficient and win the respect of their families. Biological Factors DeKeseredy and Schwartz (2005, p. 353) say that biologically the view that men commit more crime as compared to their female counterparts is deeply rooted in the masculinity nature of men. Women unlike men lack masculine bodies due to their genetic make-up. Men’s bodies are full of muscles making them to possess a lot of energy on the other hand women’s bodies are full of stored fats. Due to their differences in their bodies’ biology, they are likely to take different paths in their abilities to commit crime (Currie, 2007, p.190). Energy has been greatly associated with crime because for one to commit crime, he/she has to be very strong. In crime activities one is mostly likely to fight back when caught or to escape and this requires energy. Other theorists explaining this issue from the biological point of view have said that the mental composition of a woman is more conservative and emotional unlike that of men (DeKeseredy & Schwartz, 2005, p. 361). They explain that women tend to restrain from criminal activities because of the emotional thinking they possess. Men on the other hand are more rational than women and thus tend to justify the course of their actions. A theorist called Lombroso claims that the few women who commit crime possess some abnormal characteristics (DeKeseredy & Schwartz, 2005, p. 366). Lombroso further expounds this by telling us that if such women are studied closely they are found to have masculine hormones. Economic Factors According to Gartner and Ferraro (2002, p. 530) there are political justifications which explains why women commit fewer crimes than men. In the modern contemporary world, most crimes demand magnificent amount of initial capital. The ordinaries required in modern crimes are very expensive and requires economically well up criminals. In most cases, men are the owners of the means of production thus they are more economically powerful than women. They therefore use their economic resources to commit high profile crime in the world (Gartner and Ferraro 2002, p. 530). Crimes such as drug trafficking and terrorism are very demanding in terms of resources thus, they are committed by economically stable people. Women are therefore, incapacitated from committing these forms of crimes by their limited economic resources (Gartner and Ferraro 2002, p. 532). Additionally, Barner and Roberts (2003, p. 133) observed that, men yearn for economic stability, which is a different case to women. They (men) are known for their aggressiveness in searching for economic domination and power. This can be illustrated by the fact that, many of the economic crimes are committed by men due to their ego for economic gain. Additionally, the society expects men to be economically stable. Men are forced by the society to try all the available means to get economic empowerment (Barner and Robert, 2003, p. 133). The societal pressure in this case forces men to engage in criminal activities to meet the societal expectation. Women on the other hand, are under no social pressure to be economically stable. They (women) are therefore, less prone to economic crimes for economic gain as compared to men (Barner and Roberts, 2003, p. 133). Additionally, there are fewer women in the world economic pillar. Most of the crucial economic positions are occupied by the male gender (Jeff, 1999, p. 123). Furthermore, many world criminal activities involve people who are in economically influential positions which are occupied by men. They are either directly involved in crimes or they serve as core perpetrators (Jeff, 199, p. 123). The men occupancy of economically influential positions makes them more likely to be involved in criminal activities as compared to women who occupy very limited and less influential economic positions. (Jeff 199, p123). Political factors Naffine (1999, p. 98) further observed that, women are less involved in political activities hence they are less likely to participate in politically related crimes. In the modern days, very few women play a substantial role in the political arena which is prone to high profile crimes (Naffine 1999, p. 98). Due to their (men) domination in the political domain, men in most cases are squarely responsible for politically related crimes which are very rampant in the modern democratic world. Complicated crimes against humanity for political gains are known to be funded and committed by men. Few women who are in political power prefer democratic way of power hiking as opposed to men who prefer using violence to get political power (Naffine, 1999, p .98). Conclusion Women are less involved and very passive in criminal activities as opposed to men who are active in criminal activities. There are some specific and general reasons why women are less involved in criminal activities as compared to men. Many women are not economically stable as compared to men who uses they economic power to commit crimes. Additionally, most modern days criminal activities are very expensive and complicated thus requires credible amount of resources. On the other hand, women are not excited by the grave for economic gain as it is the cases in men. Furthermore, they are under no pressure to be economically stable therefore they are less likely to participate in criminal activities for economic gain. On the other hand, women are dominated politically thus disarming them the capacity to participate crime. Culturally, women are discouraged from being criminals as opposed to men who are praised for successfully participating in criminal activities. References Barnes, J. and Roberts, D 2003. Society, politics and the economy, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. Campbell, A., Muncer, S and Bibel, D 2001, Women and crime – An evolutionary Approach, Aggression and Violent Behavior; 6(2): 481-497. Currie, E 2007, Against marginality: Arguments for a public criminology, Theoretical Criminology; 11(3): 175–190. DeKeseredy, S and Schwartz, D 2005, Masculinities and interpersonal violence, Handbook of studies on men & masculinities; 2(6): 353–366. Gartner, R and Ferraro, K 2002, Women involvement in serious interpersonal violence, Aggression and Violent Behaviors, 7, 529-565. Jeff, F 1999, Making trouble: Cultural constructions of crime, deviance, and control, New Brunswick: Transactions Publishers. Lauritsen, L., Karen H and James, L 2009, Trends in the Gender Gap in Violent Offending: New Evidence from the National Crime Victimization Surveys, Criminology; 47(9): 361-99. Naffine, N 2004, Theorizing about female crime in world politics: Women and crime, Sydney: Allen and unwind. Read More