Influence of Gender Inequality and Marginalization on Types of Female Offending

• NCJ Number: 222776
• Journal: Homicide Studies Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2008 Pages: 208-226
• Author(s): Amy Reckdenwald; Karen F. Parker
• Date Published: May 2008
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Building on Steffensmeier and Haynie's work on the relationship between structural disadvantage and urban female crime rates, this study examined whether structural indicators differentially influenced women's involvement in crimes against intimate partners compared with their participation in the drug trade and robberies.

Abstract

The study found that the significant variation in the degree to which women engaged in certain types of offenses was related to specific structural factors that limit opportunities for women and marginalize them economically. Further, economic marginalization was a strong predictor of both partner-related and economically motivated offenses; however, the influence of this predictor on female offending differed significantly by offense type. Similarities in the influence of economic marginalization on female drug sales and robbery suggest that females are committing these crimes out of economic necessity. The influence of economic marginalization on female-perpetrated intimate partner homicide, however, differed from economically motivated offenses. This suggests that females are committing intimate partner homicide for very different reasons, possibly due to strain and frustration that comes from a lack of resources and power. The role of gender inequality in female offending is less clear; gender disparities in income and higher education were significant predictors of intimate partner homicide, but in contradictory ways. As income inequality increased, female-perpetrated intimate-partner homicide decreased. On the other hand, gender disparities in education (men with more education than women) had a positive influence on female-perpetrated intimate partner homicide. Using the 2000 census, Supplemental Homicide Files, and Uniform Crime Report arrest data for a large sample of U.S. cities, the study examined the influence of gender-inequality and economic-marginalization variables on specified offenses, while also providing a statistical test for determining whether these indicators differed significantly for offenses types. 4 tables, 3 notes, and 88 references