Crime rates differ significantly between the male and female genders. Mostly, women are less likely to engage in crimes than their male counterparts. Crimes may range from shoplifting to burglary and murder. People still for different reasons, either knowingly or unknowingly and run a risk of being arrested and convicted in the courts of law. There are crimes that men and women commit almost at the same rate, but men commit most of them, especially those that involve the use of force. Women are also more likely to be victims of personal attack crimes which involve rape, sexual harassment, and personal theft such as purse snatching. Gender differences among the people who commit crimes as well as the victims of the crime are profound in the country. Men make up over 80% of violent crimes committed in the country while women only account for less than 20% of the crimes. This essay will discuss the men and women representation in crime regarding serious crimes, property related crimes and the probability of repeating crimes and the period one takes within the crime careers. Apart from prostitution, men are ranked top in almost every other form of crime.
Serious crimes (Felonies)
Serious crimes can be defined as those that result in permanent or significant injuries, disability, death etc. They include rape, robbery, murder, treason, terrorism, kidnapping, etc. Such crimes are mostly committed by men as compared to women. According to the University of Minnesota, most people who experience crimes report that men are more likely to commit more serious crimes. Men are thought to be more violent that women when committing crimes because they are brought up to be assertive and aggressive. In most cases, the male child is expected to persevere tough situations and use forceful means to get what they want. They grow up knowing that they can get anything by the use of force. On the other hand, the girl child is brought about gently and will only resort of violence when there is no other way out. Therefore, women are more likely to engage in crimes such as shoplifting and stealing of property where they may not be seen and there is no direct confrontation with the people they are stealing from. Another reason as to why men engage in serious crimes is because of the society's expectations that they are supposed to provide for the families. They, therefore, target people, vehicles, or buildings where they expect to get adequate or more funds or materials to cater for their families. On the other hand, the women only steal to increase that which they are out of or to get what they do not have. The women would, therefore, less likely engage in crimes that involve harming other people, causing them injury and even killing them.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Crime Pattern and Habits
The number of men who commit crimes is more than that of the females. As of February 2017, there were 93.3% men in the US prisons as compared to only 6.7% women in the prisons (Bureau of Prisons, 2017). It is believed that there is a high likelihood for men to be imprisoned as compared to women. The factors that lead to fewer women being jailed include the perceived family responsibilities that women have, particular with the children in the homes. Secondly, women who are pregnant may not be imprisoned or may receive shorter jail terms as compared to the males who commit similar crimes (Jones, 2000). Other reasons that have been attributed to women not being punished as harshly as men are the beliefs that women can be corrected easily, regret their mistakes and are willing to give up their criminal behaviors. Women are also believed to be less dangerous as compared to men who would go as far as maiming their victims and even kill them during criminal operations or cover up their mess to avoid jail terms (The Gale Group Inc., 2002). In the report on women offenders, the Department of Justice states that only 15% of female offenders use weapons such as firearms, knives and any other blunt objects; 28% of men offenders use the objects when carrying out crimes. 8% of male offenders are likely to cause serious injuries to the victims by causing bone breakages, knife wounds, gunshots, and unconsciousness. Only 5% of female offenders cause such problems to the victims According to The Gale Group Inc. (2002), generally, fewer females are also arrested than males. The lower rates of arrests have been taken to mean that a fewer number of females contribute to crimes despite their population being slightly over the number of men.
The women's remorseful character makes them easily forgiven, released and punished less severely. As a result, most of them quit the criminal careers for fear of serving longer jail terms and separation from the community. They quit crime and engage in any other economic activities. On the other hand, men are likely to repeat the crime that they committed before even if they are arrested, convicted or even held in prisons for some time. The reason as to why most men still go back to the acts of committing crimes is because they might not find alternative solutions to the problems that they had. As heads of the family, the society expects men to produce the needs of the family members. Apart from those who engage in leisure related crimes such as drug use, most men may be criminals because they lack the basic needs. They, therefore, would still commit the crimes if there is no other way to finance the needs of their families. As The Gale Group Inc. (2002) Chesney-Lind and Pasko (2012) state, the reasons why most people engage in crimes are poverty and lack of job, pushing the people to find other means of earning a living.
An interesting trend is the increasing numbers of women who engage in criminal activities and that of those who become incarcerated. Today, more women are being charged and confined within prisons over the same crimes as was the case a decade ago. The increment in the number of women who are incarcerated is because of the policies that require prosecution and punishment for all offenders regardless of their gender. The policies mainly target drug dealers and have caused an influx of the number of women who are confined within the prisons today. Though their numbers remain significantly small as compare to imprisoned men, the number of women engaging in crime has risen more than that of their male counterparts (Van Voorhis, 2012).
Both genders exhibit lesser engagement and conviction from serious crimes as compared to the lesser ones in nature. Females and males are more likely to take part in crimes that do not involve violence that in the ones that involve violence. Most of the offenders, male or female, are teens and youthful. The pattern by age is the same for both genders except for prostitution where the females have a higher representation by the youthful age and the male by older ages. Very young and very old females rarely engage in crimes, like their male counterparts. The only reported crime in which older men are more represented is prostitution, probably because they have the money and power to control what they want.
Conclusion
There are significant variations in numbers of women and men who commit a crime. Generally, more men than women engage in criminal activities. The men are convicted more as compared to the females though the rates for imprisoned females have been on the rise and the rate almost matches the males'. Women are less likely to engage in serious crimes and their activities do not result in injuries and permanent conditions as compared to the male. The male is also more likely to follow the trends of their colleagues and friends and thus end up repeating the same crimes for which they were arrested and even convicted. Generally, men tend to have a longer career in crime than the women because women express self-remorse and consider themselves as people who should be there for the children and the society. There is a belief that women are likely to receive later punishment as compared to men because of their remorseful nature, the belief that they are less violent and dangerous than the males and the nature of crimes that they engage in. there are also similarities between the male and female offender; most of them are both youthful and generally, the both genders engage more in less serious crimes as compared to serious crimes. More men are believed to engage in crimes related activities than females because they are brought up to be assertive and aggressive whereas the females are handled gently. The boys grow up knowing that they have to use dubious means to get what they want. In the end, many of them develop the courage which helps them approach people and rough them about during crime related issues.
References
Bureau of Prisons. (2017). Inmate Gender. Retrieved April 13, 2017 from https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_gender.jsp
Chesney-Lind, M., & Pasko, L. (2012). Girls, women, and crime: selected readings. Sage.
Department of Justice. (2000). Women Offenders. Retrieved April 13, 2017 from https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wo.pdf
Harris, J. A. (2014). Women in Prison. The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Jones, C. R. (2007). An Analysis of Gender Differences in Property Crime Arrest Rates (Doctoral dissertation, Louisiana State University).
The Gale Group Inc. (2002). Gender and Crime. Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice. Retrieved April 13, 2017 from http://www.encyclopedia.com/law/legal-and-political-magazines/gender-and-crime
Van Voorhis, P. (2012). On behalf of women offenders. Criminology & Public Policy, 11(2), 111-145.
