LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF SEX ROLE CHANGES IN CRIME RATES - 1939-1976

• NCJ Number: 66744
• Author(s): J G GORA
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 240 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: SPECIAL PRICES FOR ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY DOCTORAL THESIS

Annotation

THIS THESIS CONTRASTS THE BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TENETS OF TRADITIONAL FEMALE DEFIANCE THEORIES WITH NEWER THEORIES EMPHASIZING SEX ROLE SOCIALIZATION IN THE FAMILY AND DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS TO CRIMINAL SUBCULTURES.

Abstract

EMPIRICAL DATA ARE USED TO PROBE THE THESIS THAT THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT HAS LED TO AN INCREASE IN THE QUANTITY AND SERIOUSNESS OF FEMALE CRIME IN THE 1970'S. A PROBABILITY SAMPLE OF ARRESTS WAS DRAWN FROM POLICE RECORDS OF A CITY IN NEW JERSEY IN SELECTED YEARS FROM 1939 TO 1976. FOR EACH OF A SERIES OF 5 YEARS A DECADE APART, RECORDS FOR 200 MALES AND 200 FEMALES WERE OBTAINED. THIS RESULTED IN A FINAL SAMPLE OF 1651 ARRESTS WITH 519 FEMALE AND 1132 MALE CASES. THE PREDOMINANCE OF MALE CASES REFLECTS THE SMALLER NUMBER OF FEMALE ARRESTS IN SOME YEARS, THAN THE SAMPLE REQUIRED. AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO TRACK THE ENTIRE CRIMINAL CAREER OF EACH PERSON IN THE SAMPLE. FINDINGS SHOWED AN INCREASE IN ARRESTS OF WHITE, HIGHER-CLASS JUVENILE FEMALES BETWEEN 1959 AND 1969. THIS TREND BEGAN IN THE 1950'S, HOWEVER, AND IS NOT CONTINUED INTO THE 1970'S. ARRESTS FOR DRUGS, FRAUD AND FORGERY, AND MORE SERIOUS PROPERTY OFFENSES INCREASED BETWEEN 1959 AND 1969. OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS CHANGED MOST FOR ADULT FEMALES FROM 1949 TO 1959, WHILE SERIOUSNESS OF FEMALE JUVENILE OFFENSES INCREASED IN THE FOLLOWING DECADE. OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS INCREASED WITH STEPPED UP FEMALE OFFENSE ACTIVITY IN GROUPS; THIS WAS GREATEST IN 1969. THE PATTERN FOR JUVENILE ACTIVITY FOUND IN 1976 CLOSELY RESEMBLES THE TRADITIONAL PATTERN OF 1959. IN SUM, THE RESEARCH SHOWED THAT ARRESTS IN 1969 WAS DISTINCTIVE AND NOT REPEATED FOR 1976, AS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE CASE IF SEX ROLE CHANGES HAD BEEN THE CAUSE. THUS, THE DATA INDICATE THAT THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT DID NOT HAVE A LONG-RANGE IMPACT ON ARREST RATES, SINCE IT DID NOT LEAD TO A CHANGE IN THE KEY ELEMENTS OF SEX ROLES THAT AFFECT CRIMINAL PROPENSITY. THE HYPOTHESIS THAT INCREASES IN FEMALE CRIME RATES MAY BE DUE TO CHANGING POLICE ATTITUDES WAS NOT BORNE OUT BY THE DATA. FINALLY, OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS WAS MORE HIGHLY RELATED TO COHORT DIFFERENCES THAN PERIOD EFFECTS, INDICATING NO SUPPORT FOR A GENERATIONAL HYPOTHESIS. TABULAR DATA AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (MRK)