Why are more men than women convicted of crime - Essay Example

? Why are more men than women convicted of crime al affiliation Sometimes it is so unfortunate that people have to be locked up in the very many prisons that are there in this country, I really feel sorry for them since some of the are even locked up for their entire life but if the is the cost of social peace as far as criminals are concerned then it is a worthy course that I am in so much support of. We need this country to be as peaceful as it can, free from the thugs and robbers, con men, rapists and the some many forms of crime that we have. According to Muncie and Wilson (2004) despite all these efforts to ensure social soberness as far a crime is concerned, it is quite impressive to note that most of those that are serving various jail terms in the country are mostly men as compared to women. Can we say that men were born naturally more criminal minded than women? In a bid to try and look into some of the explanation of why not so women are in prison as compared to men, and why this happens we shall look into so many aspects that make help women not serve jail terms as compared to the men. To begin with, According to Muncie and Wilson (2004) one main reason why women are less likely to serve jail term is the fact women usually offend less than men. According to Home Office statistics from 2000 it is observed that there were only 17% of the offenders who were women. This is surely a low number compared to the remaining 83% men. Some of the explanation of why women are likely to offend less compared to men is the fact that contrary to men women are not very daring as far as committing crime is concerned. Women usually don’t take so many risks as compared to men; they are usually very cautious and afraid in their moves as compared to men. Taking a good example of the history of bank robbings that have been noted, bank robbing being one of the most risky crimes since most banks are usually heavily guarded and thus for one to rob a bank one must have a fair share of courage. Muncie and Wilson (2004) state that it is usually observed that almost 96% of the bank robbers who have been put behind bars are men thus showing that women are hesitant in taking such risky moves thus they wont be caught in such grave acts of crime. Again, women are less likely to commit offenses because most of them do certain crimes and work scot free without even being detected. For example in a shopping mall or a supermarket a man would be suspiciously treated as far as shoplifting is concerned as compared to women thus most women carry out some of the offenses and walk unnoticed because they are innocently treated with the society since they are never traditionally associated with crime. Again if one takes a closer look at the number of men who are found to have used weapons like guns in their bid to execute a certain criminal activity then one would agree that very few women usually get involved in crime of such magnitude. Women are usually observed to be less violent even when committing a crime and this has not only been instrumental in ensuring that they don’t get very severe punishments in terms of ruling but it has also been a good reason why most crime that are committed by women have mostly gone unnoticed. Secondly, the fewer numbers of women as seen in the prisons and correctional facilities is due to the fact that most women commit crime that are of less in magnitude as compared to men according to Maguire, Morgan and Reiner (2012). This to a greater extent contributed to fewer numbers of women in jails. For example, traditionally women are associated with crimes like shoplifting. For instance if you are a shopkeeper and you notice that a lady has shoplifted one will not even think of informing the police and would thus just chase her away from your shop compared to if the shoplifter was a man. If is a man the first thing that comes to one’s mind is the fact that the shoplifter could be armed and thus one informs the police instead and thus most of men are usually arrested for petty crime as compared to women. These are some of the factors that make so many men to be charged for crimes. Secondly, women usually don’t have enough guts to be involved in serious crime thus they will only be found mostly in the petty crime according Maguire, Morgan and Reiner (2012). For instance, men are usually associated with crime of high magnitude which is more risky as far as being busted is concerned. For instance one would expect that if a $70million check that was lost has been cashed by an anonymous person, the probability of this person of being a man is very high as compared to when it was only $700. It is usually observed that most men would not risk being arrested for only $700 but if the amount is $70million then trust almost half of the men would take the risk and try cashing such a check. But on the other hand very few women would dare risk cashing a $70million stolen check but instead would take a gamble for $700 thus women usually get involved in crime of less magnitude as compared to men. Thus with such petty offenses most of them are hardly sentenced to jail for the offenses (Maguire, Morgan and Reiner 2012). In addition to the above mention women are usually less entangled in the Courts as mentioned by Lanier, and Henry, (2009). This is also a contributing factor why there are fewer women in prison as compared to men. It is usually observed that the main reason why women are usually less entangled in the court is the fact that most women commit very petty offenses. This has been so instrumental in making them stay out of the jails because of the crimes they commit to hardly deserve any prison sentence for example taking a closer look at the year 1998 it was noted that of all of those who were being supervised by the Probation service were about 12% and also women made up only 5% of the prison population according to Tierney (2005). It is also usually observed that the main reason why women are less entangled by courts is the fact that most women unlike men usually admit their offenses. This is also very instrumental in influencing the ruling of the court since they are usually given very light sentences due to their honest and in most cases they are usually get cautioned even for indictable offenses according to Lanier, and Henry (2009). Women like men have very many reasons that can make the court to reconsider its decision and instead choose not to send a woman to jail. For instance a woman can claim that she is pregnant or has a young kid who she has to attend to. This coupled with other factors also usually make the women less likely to serve jail terms. Other than the above mentioned it is also usually observed that women usually spent very less time in the remands and in some instances they are not remanded totally as compared to the men. This is because women are easy to trust as far as disappearing from the justice process is concerned. Thus most of them are usually let to attend their court processes from home as compared to being remanded. Men on the other hand are very hard to trust since they are usually treated with a lot of suspicion and thus many men are usually remanded than women. One other reason why women would be less likely to be remanded is the fact women can easily make a plea especially if she is a single parent that she has to take care of the kids or attend to her family. Such pleas when come from a woman are easily considered than if a man makes such please thus this has to greater extent help in making the number of women in prisons as low as possible as compared to men. Again according to Lanier, and Henry (2009) it is usually observed that women are in most instances discharged or given community sentences. This has also played an important role in ensuring that women are less in number in the prisons as compared to the men. One main reason why a woman can be discharged or even given a community sentence is the fact women in most cases are very honest as far as their confession of committing the offenses is concerned this in turn will influence the judge’s decision. Also important to note is the fact most women are subjected to community sentence due to the fact as compared to men they are usually very committed to serving their punishment and at the same time staying out of trouble as far as more crime is concerned. Most women are also observed to be single parents thus are taking care of their family and thus the court is usually cautious on the fact the sentences does not put the welfare of the kids at risk so that they miss out on the important things like schooling and also meals among other essential to their survival (Lanier, and Henry 2009). According to Chambliss (2001) also important to note is the fact that in most of the crimes that are usually reported are usually against women as compared to men. One funny thing is that most of these crimes against women are usually carried out by men against women. For example women are usually most of the victims of domestic violence as compared to men. Since most of the domestic violence against women are basically carried out by men then it has always led most of these men being sent behind bars thus explaining why there are more men in prisons that women. It was noted that almost 40% of the case of violence towards women happen in the domestic environment, thus this in turn makes so many men who are responsible for committing these crimes to be sent behind bars since order has to be placed by the law according Chambliss (2001). It is unacceptable to beat up women for any reason whatsoever. It is also usually observed that 33% of the women who are victims of homicide are usually due to their former partner thus this continued aggression of men against women compared to the number of women who are violent to men is what makes more men to be so many in the prisons as compared to the women as according to Tierney (2005). We have to admit that crime for whatever reason is unacceptable and there should be no one-sided application of the law. If that woman is found with the same offenses just like men then the law should be applied fully and not that the law is bent for women. We should encourage social peace where we live without getting involved in crime of whatever kind and this world will surely be at peace. It is also so unfortunate that so many men are behind bars. It should be noted that men should learn to be very respectful to the women for whatever reason and thus they should learn that assaulting women is so unacceptable and that they should learn to always stay on the right side of the law so that they can avoid being found to have broken the law and thus being sent to jail. If we all embrace the ladies on their way of life then prison will surely reduce in population since these are the worst places anyone can wish to spend part of his or her life in. References Muncie, J. and Wilson, D, 2004, Student handbook of criminal justice and criminology, London: Cavendish. Maguire, M., Morgan, R. and Reiner, R. 2012, Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Also many other editions. Lanier, M. M. and Henry, S, 2009, Essential Criminology, Oxford: Westview. Very good, but an American text. Hale, C., Hayward, K., Wahidin, A. and Wincup, E, 2009, Criminology, Oxford: Oxford University Press. W. J. Chambliss. 2001, Power, Politics and Crime, Boulder, Colorado: Westview, A Marxist moves into the twenty first century. Tierney, J, 2005, Criminology: theory and context, Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf. Read More