I found a stat by the Bureau of Justice that in the United States in 1998 there were 84,127 female prisoners while there were 1,214,969 male prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction. I find this ratio of men to women astounding and I do not believe this has changed much. So, why are there so many more male prisoners then women prisoners? Also why are there more violent crimes committed by men rather than women?
deb2world
I believe the shortest possible answer with the greatest amount of truth behind it would be:
Testosterone
There are certainly other socialization factors, as well as judicial double standard factors, but I think that’s the biggest one right there.
I personally do not believe this to be true. The research studies done that link sex hormones with aggression are suspect. There’s a fairly decent description of why this is so here: http://www.gendys.mcmail.com/about/06encrn/63_aggrs.htm
The studies I’ve read on this used prison populations, but didn’t use an outside control group. Or they didn’t allow for the fact that testosterone production may have been a RESULT of an aggressive action, rather than the CAUSE. They also generally fail to take into account the levels of testosterone women produce.
I’m not suggesting that sex hormones don’t necessarily affect behavior. I just think the research so far has been lacking and is inconclusive.
-L
Let’s say male testoterone levels is the reason why violent crimes cause men more than women to commit crimes (I agree with SexyWriter that I am not altogether sure that this is true), this does not explain the differences in white color crimes and drug related crimes for men and women.
Agreed. Or most types of theft. It only accounts for VIOLENT crimes.
I was thinking about what the problem might be. Frankly, I’m not sure. Maybe in those violent cases, it’s because men are taught that it’s more acceptable for them to be violent. It also could be that women are less likely to be accused of and subsequently given harsh sentences for crimes, even when they’re guilty.
It’s probably more to do with socialized rolls though, don’t you think? We have a sort of “bad boy” culture that’s accepted as part of society. We don’t really have the same “bad girl” thing. At least not to the same extent.
-L
OK, so why aren’t more of you women selling drugs, stealing cars, stabbing people, and doing insider trading? Is prison a deterrant?
I’d always assumed it was impulsiveness. I remember I had a study that showed crime stats drop during wars, and it tied into most criminal acts being commited by 18-35 y/o males, the military key demographic.
From the get go, women are taught to be nurturers; men are taught to be aggressors. Look at a soccer field of 8 year old boys vs. girls (well before hormones have kicked in.) While the girls are content with kicking and running for the most part, boys are doing head balls, tackling, and generally kicking the snot out of each other.
As they get older, you have to add in societal pressure, such as the stress that goes along with being black in this country,or the pressure of being “the provider” of the family. (A woman can make 8 bucks an hour working as a nurse’s aid or the local grocery store and not be considered a “loser.”)
Then you add in hormones which cannot be underestimated. All hormones are amazingly potent. It’s very well documented that testosterone leads to more aggression. I mean, just take a gander at a female athlete such as Martina Navratoliva or Serena Williams. I would bet my right arm that they have more testosterone than the average female. Not only do they look more masculine than your everyday woman, but they are also way more aggressive.
And aggression and crime go hand in hand.
Hmmm… Ok. to expand on my short answer WAG.
I wasn’t pointing to Testosterone as a reson for violent crime as much as I was pointing at it as a reason for criminal behavior in general. A more complete answer would likely have to point to the fact that success & power lead to producing more testosterone, which creates a circular pattern. It is much “easier” to be successful at criminal activities (drug dealing, embesseling, mugging, shoplifting, etc) than it is to be recognizably successfull at legal activities.
You’re not going to see a bunch of homies giving you respect because you got a good performance review and a 2.5% raise at Burger World.
I really don’t think that the folks who consider the writers of computer viruses to be “getting off on it” to be very far off the mark.
I also agree with PunditLisa’s point that a good amount of it is socialization as well. American society is still largely patriarchal and men are raised with the expectation they will be providers, they will be defenders, and they will go out and do great deeds to bring fame to the family name.
and as SexyWriter pointed out
Men are, for the most part, raised in an environment that encourages violent behavior from them in response to even feeling put upon, whether they actually are being put upon or not. And yes, I definitely think the same socialization causes judges and DAs to likely go a little more lightly when prosecuting and sentencing females. I haven’t seen any studies on this though.
-Doug
No, it’s not very well documented at all. When it is documented, it’s in faulty research studies that end up proving nothing. It’s also not documented that more testosterone leads to more masculine features in women. I assume Martina Navratilova still has ovaries, no?
-L
I question your premise. Most federal and state prisoners–male and female–are incarcerated because of non-violent crimes: drug possession and/or distribution, assorted thefts, forgery, breaking and entering, as well as white-collar crimes that range from tax cheating and embezzlement to wire fraud and more.
As for murder, rape, and assault, the causal factors are complex, ranging from issues of poor impulse control to alcohol/drug abuse (a large proportion of violent crimes are committed under the influence), to predatory behavior being the norm in some communities (i.e. socialization), to the dysfunctional manifestation of being marginalized in society–if you buy that argument. From a psychodynamic standpoint, women are generally taught/conditioned/hard-wired to turn their anger/resentment inward, thus evidencing issues of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Men are generally taught/conditioned/hard-wired to turn these feelings outward, resulting in violent behavior. Another explanation? Violence is sometimes a rational choice among the powerless.
The assumption of women as nuturers is outdated. Check out the court houses across the nation these days and you will find the meanest women imaginable. Women are quickly catching up with men as offenders.
women don’t get caught or get a man to do the crime, they egg him on and spend the money but get him to take the risk.
cunning eh !
there is a ‘feminist’ theory that men should pay more tax than women because of this inbalance of crime, its an idea !
Well, Anti-social Personality Disorder is 6 times more common in men than it is in women (With a life time prevalence of 6% for men and 1% for women).
Anti-social Personality Disorder is characterized by the pesky absence of a Super-ego (or conscience) which makes committing crime substantially easier for a person to live with.
About half of the men in federal prisions are thought to have anti-social personality disorder, soooo, the increased prevaliance of that diagnosis in men could certainly account for some of the difference. (Probably quite a bit, actually.)
tsunamisurfer the imprisonment data (percentage of women vs. men locked up), was also true during the pre WOD days. and the federal numbers roughly agree with state numbers that I’ve seen as well.
actually, (w/o looking at numbers) the WOD has shortened the gap, not caused it.
as to the OP. I’m not really certain. I know that many of the females that I’ve interviewed got into illegal activities through boyfriends (ie Significant others), men sometimes got into it through a pal (but usually not their ‘SO’). anectdotal only. Will start looking through my links to see if anything turns up.
There are far fewer women in prison for violent offenses, because they hit like a girl.
<ducking and running>
See above.
Actually, both Anti-social personality disorder and borderline personality disorder (which I assume is what you are referring to with BPD) are very well researched, and the guidelines laid out in the DSM-IV are considered particularly reliable for these two diagnoses. This is as opposed to the other personality disorders, which are inherently hard to diagnose due to overlap in symptomology, difficulty predicting outcomes, etc. As far as being a diagnosis-du-jour, ASPD has been around for a long, long time, and the diagnosis criteria have not changed from the DSM-III or the DSM-III-R in a huge sort of way. Also, just because a person commits an anti-social act, does not mean they will be diagnosed with ASPD - you’ll notice that I never said ALL the prisoners in federal institutions were diagnosable, only about 50%. You’ll have a difficult time convincing the victims of the other 50% of prisoners that those prisoners’ crimes WERN’T anti-social - but they still wouldn’t qualify for a diagnosis.
I don’t know what you mean by MPD - multiple personality disorder? Its actually now referred to as Personality Dysmorphic Disorder, and any psychologist/psychiatrist worth their salt will say that its exceddingly rare, with many saying it doesn’t exist at all. Just because it happens to be a popular made-for-TV movie plot, doesn’t mean that its being diagnosed in the real world. I don’t know ANY mental health professionals that have given that particular diagnosis.
Actually, both Anti-social personality disorder and borderline personality disorder (which I assume is what you are referring to with BPD) are very well researched, and the guidelines laid out in the DSM-IV are considered particularly reliable for these two diagnoses. This is as opposed to the other personality disorders, which are inherently hard to diagnose due to overlap in symptomology, difficulty predicting outcomes, etc. As far as being a diagnosis-du-jour, ASPD has been around for a long, long time, and the diagnosis criteria have not changed from the DSM-III or the DSM-III-R in a huge sort of way. Also, just because a person commits an anti-social act, does not mean they will be diagnosed with ASPD - you’ll notice that I never said ALL the prisoners in federal institutions were diagnosable, only about 50%. You’ll have a difficult time convincing the victims of the other 50% of prisoners that those prisoners’ crimes WERN’T anti-social - but they still wouldn’t qualify for a diagnosis.
I don’t know what you mean by MPD - multiple personality disorder? Its actually now referred to as Personality Dysmorphic Disorder, and any psychologist/psychiatrist worth their salt will say that its exceedingly rare, with many saying it doesn’t exist at all. Just because it happens to be a popular made-for-TV movie plot, doesn’t mean that its being diagnosed in the real world. I don’t know ANY mental health professionals that have given that particular diagnosis.
Here are some references…
Widiger, Thomas A; Corbitt, Elizabeth M; Millon, Theodore. Antisocial personality disorder. [Journal Article] American Psychiatric Press Review of Psychiatry. Vol 11, 1992, 63-79.
Smith, Steven R; Hilsenroth, Mark J; Castlebury, Frank D; Durham, Thomas W. The clinical utility of the MMPI-2 Antisocial Practices Content Scale. [Journal Article] Journal of Personality Disorders. Vol 13(4), Win 1999, 385-393.
Morana, Hilda C. P. Subtypes of antisocial personality disorder and the implication in forensic research: Issues in the personality disorders assessment. [Journal Article] International Medical Journal. Vol 6(3), Sep 1999, 187-199.
Schroeder, Marsha L; Schroeder, Klaus G; Hare, Robert D. Generalizability of a checklist for assessment of psychopathy. [Journal Article] Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology. Vol 51(4), Aug 1983, 511-516.
Holdwick, Daniel J. Jr; Hilsenroth, Mark J; Castlebury, Frank D; Blais, Mark A. Identifying the unique and common characteristics among the DSM-IV antisocial, borderline, and narcissistic personality disorders. [Journal Article] Comprehensive Psychiatry. Vol 39(5), Sep-Oct 1998, 277-286.
I can get more if you like…