Women and Crime
Traditionally throughout the history criminology has been dominated by study of male both criminal behaviour and victimisation. Indeed, the majority of criminological theories and studies are mainly arguing about male deviance and criminality, mentioning nothing or very little about the role of gender in crime. That also means that female victimisation was minimised almost completely or ignored (Chesney-Lind et al., 2004). Using legitimate statistics and some criminological theories, this essay will show extend of a gender gap in crime and try to explain reasons of this gap.
The reason why criminology mainly focused on male offenders is pretty obvious – majority of criminal offences is done by men and women tend to be much less involved in any type of crime. Many studies and statistics show that men have higher rates of crime and offending than women, with the gender gap being highest for serious violent crimes and lowest for minor property crime and drug use. In fact the only two major categories of crime to which women make substantial contribution is shoplifting and prostitution. Using data of a group of people born in 1953, the Home Office estimated that by the age of 46, 33 per cent of males had received at least one conviction compared with 9 per cent of women (Newburn, 2007). There is a similar pattern to younger age groups, 9 per cent of women born in 1958 had received a conviction by the age of 40, matched with 32 per cent of men (Newburn, 2007). According to Barclay and Tavares (1999) about 1 per cent of all females will have received a conviction by their mid-40s, compared to 7 per cent of men.
Using official statistics of Ministry of Justice (2006), compiled annually in England and Wales, we can outline other details. This data helped to realise the rise of female crime. Indeed during 1970s and 1980s there was an increased offending among women. One popular and persuasive argument explains that this trend is in some way linked with female
The reason why criminology mainly focused on male offenders is pretty obvious – majority of criminal offences is done by men and women tend to be much less involved in any type of crime. Many studies and statistics show that men have higher rates of crime and offending than women, with the gender gap being highest for serious violent crimes and lowest for minor property crime and drug use. In fact the only two major categories of crime to which women make substantial contribution is shoplifting and prostitution. Using data of a group of people born in 1953, the Home Office estimated that by the age of 46, 33 per cent of males had received at least one conviction compared with 9 per cent of women (Newburn, 2007). There is a similar pattern to younger age groups, 9 per cent of women born in 1958 had received a conviction by the age of 40, matched with 32 per cent of men (Newburn, 2007). According to Barclay and Tavares (1999) about 1 per cent of all females will have received a conviction by their mid-40s, compared to 7 per cent of men.
Using official statistics of Ministry of Justice (2006), compiled annually in England and Wales, we can outline other details. This data helped to realise the rise of female crime. Indeed during 1970s and 1980s there was an increased offending among women. One popular and persuasive argument explains that this trend is in some way linked with female