NCJ Number
96749
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1985) Pages: 129-146
Date Published
1985
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article examines the bivariate relationship between race and crime and gender and crime in Ontario.
Abstract
Analysis of Ontario prison statistics and Winnipeg arrest statistics indicates that Natives have a crime rate 4.5 times the rate of non-Natives; alcohol offenses, at a rate 16 times higher for Natives than for non-Natives, primarily make the difference between Native and non-Native crime rates. Further, analysis reveals that gender differences are substantially greater than racial differences, with the male crime rate being nearly 20 times the female crime rate. Again, there is significant variation across crime categories; for example, the male rate for public order and peace offenses is more than 30 times the female rate. In addition, the ratio of Native to non-Native crime rates is much greater among women than among men. Similarly, the total non-Native sex ratio is between five and six times the total Native sex ratio, indicating that the ratio of male to female crime rates is much greater among non-Natives than among Natives. Thus, the race-crime relationship is suppressed among men, and the gender-crime relationship is suppressed among Natives. Finally, data indicate that differences between Native and non-Native crime rates will increase with age faster for women than for men, and differences between male and female crime rates will increase faster for non-Natives than Natives. Comparative research for the United States and Canada is urged. Four tables and 28 references are included.