NCJ Number
79877
Journal
Tijdschrift voor criminologie Volume: 21 Issue: 5 Dated: special issue (September/October 1979) Pages: 221-231
Date Published
1979
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Methodological problems in explaining criminal behavior of women, a general theory of criminal behavior, and probable consequences of increasing emancipation of women are discussed.
Abstract
Statistics indicate that women commit fewer offenses than men collectively and individually; that there is a downward trend in crimes by women; that women, like men, are most likely to commit property crimes, with shoplifting the most common offense type; and that the number of index crimes by women against life and limb has dropped since 1962. Explanations of criminal behavior by women tend to be much more monocausal than theories on male criminal behavior. This article suggests that stereotyping of the sexes can ony be avoided by developing a general theory of crime that does not take sex differences into account a priori. On a secondary level, differences in biological disposition and hierarchy status can be used to explain particular types of crime committed by men and women. The general theory of criminal behavior developed holds that increasing contact with deviant behavior leads to higher priority of deviant contacts and increased knowledge of criminal techniques. The more intense the needs of the individual, the more likely the individual is to resort to criminal behavior using effective criminal techniques. The individual thus becomes more and more involved in the cycle of deviance. The propensity of women for shoplifting is explained in the context of the female socialization experience. As girls are generally encouraged to play with dolls rather than learning technical skills, they do not as adults possess the skills to commit offenses requiring technical ability, e.g., burglary. Consequently, women are more likely to resort to relatively unskilled crimes such as shoplifting. The effect of emancipation on criminal behavior by women depends on the nature of the women's emancipation, e.g., whether it is material emancipation, formal emancipation, autonomy, or liberation. Liberation may lead to strengthening of deviant norms which make political-ideological offenses possible. Material emancipation may bring women into contact with a number of different subcultures which provide opportunities for a variety of offenses, e.g., embezzlement. The relationship between autonomy and criminal behavior is associated with the values of the particular individual and on the real degree of autonomy. Notes and a 13-item bibliography are supplied.