NCJ Number
181692
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: 1999 Pages: 93-118
Date Published
1999
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Convergence theory hypothesizes that as the social roles of the sexes equalize, there will be less differentiation in the social behavior of men and women; in this study Fatal Accident Reporting Systems (FARS) data from 1982 through 1991 were used to investigate the convergence hypothesis regarding drinking and driving as a possible explanation for women's increased single-vehicle crash deaths.
Abstract
Only those crashes in which the driver died were selected because the data are more complete in these cases. The study examined 125,504 crashes that involved 103,429 male drivers and 22,075 female drivers. Because single-vehicle crashes are known to more often involve alcohol use, analysis of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reporting by State and year for these data was conducted to avoid bias from States with less complete data. Findings show that drinking and driving for both sexes decreased over the 10-year period. Convergence in drinking and driving behavior is not a viable explanation for women's increased traffic deaths. Women are now as likely as men to have a driver's license, and women have also increased their annual mileage. Increased exposure to traffic death may provide a better explanation of women's increasing fatalities. From a broader perspective of the application of the convergence hypothesis, the criminology literature deems it too simplistic. Steffensmeier and Allan (1988) find the viewpoint that female emancipation is responsible for the increase in female crime to be inconsistent with the evidence that shows women are concentrated in crimes that represent extensions of traditional role activities. They recommend that future research focus on how the social structure differentially impacts both sexes and their corresponding behaviors. 6 tables and 29 references