Introduction
Criminality seems to be an inseparable part of humankind’s history, which has been inextricably linked to human activity for centuries. As soon as primitive people mastered the tools, they began to use them for creativity and the deliberate killing of their tribesmen. The history of crime has many of the clearest examples of the cruelty, ingenuity, and horror that murderers, thieves, and abusers used against their victims. In a broad sense, “crime” presupposes a conscious or accidental crossing of the established moral and legal norms for a given society. Simultaneously, it is clear that the principles and norms are characteristic of each epoch. Thus, modern laws in the developed world that cannibalism is an unacceptable and inadequate human behavior, for which sanctions are implied, do not work in some African Aboriginal settlements. However, there is a notable trend in the evolution of global thought regarding the gravity of the crime and punishment’s proportionality. As far back as the Middle Ages, dissenters were burned at stake, during the industrial era they were isolated from society, and now only some particularly heavy dissent is prohibited, such as the propaganda of Nazism and the extremism of terrorist organizations.
Like any other science, criminology continues its development in the 21st century, developing the skills of crime investigation and turning its attention to statistical regularities. Thus, in an era of global equality of civil rights and universal tolerance, it is essential to talk about which gender commits more crimes. First of all, it is worth noting that the real state of affairs, devoid of subjectivism and bias towards any of the sexes, should be based on data, as they best reflect existing patterns. On average, men commit crimes several times more often than women. However, this is only a superficial analysis that indicates a general trend. The purpose of this research work is to investigate gender patterns in the issue of crimes committed.
The Stereotypical Image of the Offender
Before starting to discuss statistical patterns regarding the gender composition of criminal cases, it should be noted that a modern person is characterized by having a stereotypical image of the criminal. As a rule, a photo-portrait in an individual’s consciousness is influenced by the media sphere, since films, series, and news regularly create a unique image of a person committing a crime. This means that there is a robust associative image in society, whereby the perpetrator, most often a middle-aged man, has a strong constitution, an aggressive direct look, and a smirk, demonstrating a bias towards morality. Turning to more conservative views, the criminal is traditionally portrayed as a non-White man who has tattoos all over his body. However, it is crucial to recognize that this approach to creating the abuser’s image is wrong because it is known that not only men of the described type, but also women, and even the elderly are guilty of criminal atrocities.
Who Commits More Crimes
Statistical Picture
First of all, it should be clearly understood that the gender division of criminal cases can be both generalized and specific. A wide analysis of independent literary sources clearly indicates that men are likely to become crime subjects. However, research needs to emphasize particular types of crime, such as harassment, violent robbery, or domestic violence, in order to highlight that generalized patterns are not universal. According to Statista Research Department (2019) data relevant to the United States, men’s total number of crimes is 10,306, and women’s is 1,443. In other words, on average, American men committed seven times as many illegal acts in 2019 as women. Heiskanen and Lietonen (2016) further develop this idea and extrapolate statistics to the whole world. Their findings include the fact that the gender composition of global crimes is 84 percent male. Moreover, discrepancies have increased in Oceania, where male offenders are even more common than female offenders.
The Dominance of Crime Types
When looking closely at the forensic reports, one can find that male dominance as a criminal is not valid for all types of illegal actions. Indeed, more violent robbery, sexual harassment, and physical aggression against other people are committed by male offenders (Campaniello, 2019). At the same time, however, women are more successful in stealing and fraud, especially with securities. An emphasis must support the discussion of statistical patterns in the criminal world.
Gender Trends Among Criminals
Rapid Increase in Female Crimes
As it has already been found out, men commit several times more crimes than women in general. Nevertheless, this fact does not detract from the negative effect of women who, like men, often exhibit immoral and unethical behavior towards citizens. According to the Campaniello study (2019), The number of crimes perpetrated by women is increasing every year. Scientific evidence demonstrates that the number of crimes committed by women is on the rise faster than the number of crimes committed by men. (Chesney-Lind, 2016). Despite the significant gender gap, this fact makes it possible to forecast that over time, if proactive measures are not taken, the number of women’s offenses may be equal to that of men.
Individualism and the Gravity of Crimes
Other trends in male and female delinquency may include the seriousness of the offense, the initiators’ identity or collectivity, and the gender composition of the victims. The authors of “Gender and crime” (n.d.) propose that women are fewer likely than men to be engaged in criminal gangs and more likely to act alone. This is a fascinating fact because when viewed with a link between criminals’ collectivity and the degree of severity, it clarifies that women are less likely to commit serious offenses. This is because criminal gangs tend to emphasize serious crimes, big-cash disruption, or violence against a group of individuals, while women acting alone traditionally seek personal gain with minimal violence. Meanwhile, the Statista Research Department reports that there is no noteworthy difference in the choice of victim gender among American criminals because, “in 2018, the number of male and female violent crime victims was about even, with about 1,615,610 male victims and 1,638,640 female victims” (Statista Research Department, 2019, para.1). This suggests that the actual motives for crimes are mostly equal and overlapping. For example, if a man commits a series of sexual harassment of up to a hundred women, then a group of criminals, whether male or female, may kill a hundred male victims in a terrorist attack.
Brief Search Motives
The Numerical Superiority of Men and Income Level
Sociobiological and psychological factors should justify significant modifications in the number, seriousness, and effect of crimes committed by men compared to women. First and foremost, it should be noted that the gender proportion of people is close to the ratio of 1:1 but slightly shifted towards men (Chao et al., 2019). Hence, on 1000 men, there are 990 women — this phenomenon can become an additional factor in increased crime among men because of the larger sample size. Nevertheless, this is not a satisfactory answer to why men are more likely to obligate offenses. Heiskanen and Lietonen (2016) demonstrate that the gender split is narrower in low-income countries than in more affluent states, meaning that it is not a minor motive for the crime but a financial gain. In this regard, Campaniello (2019) indicates that government support for mothers with low incomes should reduce female crime rates.
Patriarchalism
In the search for additional motives, the historical patriarchy of society must be recognized. Of course, the modern world is on the right track to recognize gender equality, but that was not all. As a result, echoes of male dominance find a response in contemporaries, which causes increased control for women. In other words, fewer women are inclined to be sociopathic because of male control (Hall, 2018). It is fair to admit that this approach, combined with other sexist theories, is becoming outdated, and transgressive hypotheses are being replaced.
Conclusion
Criminal peace coexists with social order, as people have committed crimes over the centuries. Modern criminology investigates statistical patterns and finds that more crimes are committed by men than women. At the same time, petty criminal acts such as theft or fraud are prevalent among women. Thus, research into the gender gap must be accompanied by an emphasis on the nature of the crime being measured.
References
Campaniello, N. (2019). Women in crime [PDF document]. Web.
Chao, F., Gerland, P., Cook, A. R., & Alkema, L. (2019). Systematic assessment of the sex ratio at birth for all countries and estimation of national imbalances and regional reference levels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(19), 9303-9311.
Chesney-Lind, M. (2016). Women and the criminal justice system: Gender matters [PDF-document]. Web.
Gender and crime. (n.d.). Law Library – American Law and Legal Information. Web.
Hall, D. (2018). Statistics on gender and crime. Tutor2U. Web.
Heiskanen, M., & Lietonen, A. (2016). Crime and gender: A study on how men and women are represented in international crime statistics [PDF document]. Web.
Statista research department. (2019). Murder in the U.S.: number of offenders by gender 2018. Statista. Web.
Statista research department. (2019). Number of violent crime victims in the United States from 2005 to 2018, by gender. Statista. Web.