Research shows that gender is the most influential correlate for juvenile delinquency. In other words, males tend to commit more crimes than women; furthermore the intensity of crimes is often associated with one’s gender. Reasons behind these patterns shall be examined below
Whether girls become delinquent for different reasons than boys
Delinquent peer associations heavily influence one’s inclination towards a certain aspect in crime. In fact numerous criminological theories (strain theory, class theories etc) make the latter assumption in their explanations. It can therefore be said that these internal and external constraints prevalent among females are much fewer than there are in males. (Gover, 2005).
Other power related theories also show that boys and girls commit crimes for different reasons. In this regard, structural conformists claim that there are differences in power control amongst the genders with males taking the lead. More often than not, these power structures are reproduced in adolescent’s level of socialization and it affects what they becoming in the future. (Hunt, 2004)
Differences in biological, psychological or cultural factors that make female delinquency different from male delinquency.
Female delinquency in recent times is associated with non violent crimes such as fraud or minor theft. On the other hand, serious offenses are a reserve for male juveniles. Besides that, criminal justice reports indicate that the numbers of arrests made are often characterized by male rather than female offenders.
Biologists have put forward a series of explanations for these observations. For example, some of them rely on the concept of Lombroso which places women on a lower level in the evolutionary scale. Consequently, they are naturally inclined to take fewer risks and thus commit crimes. In close association with the latter assertion is the masculinity hypothesis that females who commit crimes tend to be more masculine and that this is simply not a natural trait for them. (Francis, 2007)
On the other hand, other biologists have explained the trend of lower crimes among girls using a phenomenon known as Pollak. Here, these adherents claim that certain reproductive stages make males more likely to engage in crime than their female counterparts. For instance at puberty, boys tends to increase their level of aggression and this may sometimes be expressed through delinquency. Besides these, another way of understanding the trend through a biological lens is by the hormonal differences perspective. Males have a higher level of testosterone than females and this hormone is highly responsible for agility and aggression in individuals. Such hormones therefore make boys more criminally inclined than females.
There are a range of cultural factors that can contribute towards greater criminality among male adolescents. For instance, the family has a large role to play in determining one’s behavior in the future. In paternalistic cultures, mothers tend to play a more traditional role thus implying that they are likely to supervise their children a little more than in egalitarian homes. This means that females will be carefully brought up and they will engage in fewer crimes during adolescence or later on. Besides this, in most cultures, females are expected to be subservient as this is how they are socialized. In the end, such expectations make them less prone to delinquency.
Socially speaking, it has been asserted by some experts that men and women differ in terms of their religiosity or their moral judgments. In other words, females tend to reach higher levels of moral development than males. This why females have a great sense of moral responsibility – they are sensitive towards the needs of the poor in society, they tend to support environmentally friendly policies etc. Analysts claim that religion has a large role to play in influencing the moral behavior of females and hence their need to be involved in crimes. (Yates and Pillai, 2003)
References
Hunt, A. (2004). Gender, Family and Delinquency from an Integrated Power-Control Model. American Sociological Association Paper.
Gover, A. (2005). The influence of delinquent peers on delinquency. Journal of Youth and society, 36(3), 251.
Francis, K. (2007). Gender Differences in Delinquency and Health Risk Behaviors. American society of criminology annual meeting.
Yates, D. and Pillai, V. (2003). Female vs. Male Morality: Religiosity and Delinquency Revisited. The American Sociological Association Paper.