Gender Differences In Crime

Historically, research on criminal behaviour has primarily focused on male offenders. It has only been within recent decades that female delinquency has become a prominent area of research. Until the late 1960’s and early 1970’s all crime-related theories and results of research on delinquency was merely generalized to female offender populations (Hubbard & Pratt, 2002). Throughout this time it was assumed that males and females followed similar pathways to criminality and thus, deemed unnecessary to examine gender differences. This assumption resulted in the application of gender-neutral correctional treatment programs, which are programs solely based on male offender research and without any consideration of how males and females may differ …show more content…
Many researchers posit that males and females do indeed have differences in their pathways to criminal activity (Bloom, Owen, Covington, 2003). The literature suggests for example that victimization and trauma play a pivotal role catalyzing pathways to crime among female offenders in comparison to their male counterparts (Belknap & Holsinger, 2008). These differences in criminality may have important implications in determining whether treatment programs should be specifically tailored for each gender. More specifically, if female offenders follow similar pathways as males, treatment programs that have been successful for males may provide similar results for females (Hubbard & Pratt, 2002). However, if female offenders differ from males in their pathways to criminality, correctional treatment programs will need to target gender-specific risk factors, factors that are stronger predictors of criminality for one gender over the other (Hubbard & Pratt, …show more content…
It was found that 56% of female participants were more likely to report being abandoned or deserted by their caregivers in comparison to 45% of males. Thus, leaving a significant amount of both males and females to live and survive on their own with relatively little support. Additionally, it was found that severe mental health problems have significant implications on female’s criminal pathways. Females reported significantly higher levels of mental health problems than males including self-injurious behaviours, reports of suicide and attempts of suicide. Finally, the study found that school played a role in female criminality more so than males. Moreover, females felt significantly more alienated at school and dropped out more frequently than males. Although, these characteristics play an important role in the development of criminality in both males and females, it appears that these factors occur more frequently in females than in males. The current study looks to examine the prevalence of childhood adversity of males and females and determine how childhood adversity influences the internalization of