GRADED DRAFT

Five Percent

On my confirmation retreat in eleventh grade, we played a game called “cross the line.” Before the activity started, the leader instructed us to line up behind a strip of blue painter’s tape that stretched across the large room. After lining up, the leader of the activity explained the rules for the game. She told us that she’d tell us a prompt, and if it applied to us, we should step over the line. The exercise began with simple prompts like “cross the line if you wear glasses.” However, as the game progressed, the questions became more intense and dealt with uncomfortable subjects like discrimination and poverty. After each prompt, the leader would ask those who stepped over the line a few questions relating to the prompt. As the activity continued, I remember hearing “cross the line if a member of your family has been incarcerated.” The room immediately went silent as a wave of ten to fifteen people hesitantly stepped forward. The leader then asked those who had crossed the line, “who in your family was incarcerated?” I was surprised as I heard things like “my step-brother,” “my uncle” and “my father.” At first, I did not think much of these answers. However, when the responses continued to be male-dominated, I wondered if there was a connection between crime and men. Questions like “Is it a coincidence that none of the criminals mentioned were female?” and “Do males dominate criminal activity outside of my community as well?” flooded my head. 

These questions remained unanswered until I came across the book Criminals by forensic psychiatrist Art O’Connor. Each chapter of his book discussed a different type of criminal and their motivations for their crimes. As I flipped through the pages, I passed chapters about pedophiles and murderers until I landed on the chapter titled “Female Offenders.” Staring at me on the top of the page in bold print was the statistic “five per cent” (108). Curious as to what this number could mean, I continued to read on finding out that “crime seems to be mostly a male activity; only about 5 per cent of criminal convictions involve females” (108). I stared at this page for a moment in awe that the percentage of crimes committed by females was small enough to hold up on one hand and that ninety-five percent of detected crimes could be committed exclusively by males. Baffled, I was immediately curious to explore the following question: Why do men commit more crimes than women?

Before I could dive into my research surrounding this question, it was necessary to establish that the statistics presented in O’Connor’s books have maintained relevance since being published in 1996. I scoured the internet until coming across Callie Rennison’s article, “A New Look at the Gender Gap in Offending.” Her article explores data collected by the National Crime Survey over the course of the century to determine if men committing more crime is consistent across history and present day. The results of her examination conclude that there are “consistent research finding[s] that males commit more crime than females… [which experts often call] the gender gap in offending” (Rennison). The findings of this article confirmed my understanding that men do commit crime at a higher rate than females, not only in my community, but across the board. With this in mind, I began my research into why this is the case. 

While exploring my question, I have found many theories about why men commit more crimes than women. The first theory I investigated was the biological differences between males and females and how these differences contribute to the gender gap in offending. In a review by Science Direct on aggression and violent behavior, researchers explored their findings of the differences in the development of cognitive skills between males and females. Cognitive skills are the tools that your brain uses to think, reason, and make decisions. Memory, processing, and reasoning are examples of cognitive skills (Bennett, Sarah, et al.). The researchers in the review suggest that hormones play a critical role in the development of these skills. Men and women contain different amounts of certain hormones, especially sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen. Their findings suggest that testosterone, a sex hormone found in larger doses for men, may be the culprit when it comes to why men often react more violently than women. Their research suggests that testosterone “influence[s] spatial capabilities and aggression,” so it makes sense that men are more largely represented in crime (Bennett, Sarah, et al.). The review further suggests that the hormone provokes violence and hostility (Bennett, Sarah, et al.). When I think about these findings in the context of my own life, I can find many examples that support women and men coping with their emotions differently. In my house, it was not uncommon to find my sister or me coping with our emotions through tears or journaling. However, if you walked across the hall to my brother’s room, you may be startled to find his stack of broken pencils from fits of anger or to hear the roar of his door slamming aggressively after minor inconveniences. While snapping pencils and slamming doors may be a far reach from criminal behavior, these examples still show how men and women are biologically wired to express their emotions differently. Of course, some men can control their emotions better than others, but men generally react more violently than women because of their hormonal makeup. By taking biological differences into account, we are one step closer to better understanding why men make up a larger percentage of violent crime. 

However, biology is not alone at fault for male aggression. In fact, social norms and gender roles are a large reason why men often resort to aggression. From birth, boys are conditioned to take pride in their masculine qualities like strength, independence, and assertiveness. Nurseries are sports-themed, and toys like action figures encourage competitive and aggressive behavior. Across the globe, boys grow up with the idea that strength and dominance are measures of masculinity and that expressing emotions is a sign of weakness. In a New York Post article discussing men and violence, author and criminal lawyer Jarryd Bartle explores why men may be more prone to violence than women. He argues that when boys are conditioned to believe they must identify solely with masculine qualities, then they will grow up with a limited and narrow view of what it means to be male. He proposes that “because of their (men’s) limited view of masculinity, [they] are far more likely to act violently” (Bartle). Furthermore, when men feel like they must suppress their emotions in order to remain masculine, they often will develop an unhealthy relationship with their feelings (Bartle). With these societal standards in mind, I can better understand why my brother may feel the need to express his emotion through anger. In relation to my question, this theory makes sense as failure to cope with your emotions healthily can lead to rash decisions resulting in crime. Since females have grown up with different expectations like to be kind, compassionate, and dependent, it makes sense that they have learned to cope with their emotions less aggressively. The differences in these norms may be another reason they are less represented in crime statistics.

However, it’s important to note that not all crimes involve hostility and aggression. For that reason, the gender gap in offending can not only be explained by men’s increased aggression. Interestingly, these non-violent crimes are also a result of the strict gender roles engraved in American culture (Steffensmeier and Allan). In many households across America, it’s an expectation that the man provides for the family. The pressure to do so can often be overwhelming, and for some, it is motivation enough to participate in white-collar crime. White-collar crimes are non-violent crimes that usually are committed with financial motivations in mind (Steffensmeier and Allan). A review created by researchers at Penn State University analyzes gendered theories and their relationship to crime. The researchers reported that because of gender norms ingrained in American culture “female involvement in white-collar crime… is almost nonexistent” (Steffensmeier and Allan). These gendered expectations cause women to participate less in white-collar crime, which logically leads crimes like tax evasion and fraud to be vastly male-dominated. Growing up in a suburb of Milwaukee, I saw many of these gender roles at play. Many of my mom’s friends were homemakers, leaving work and finance up to their spouses. Even in my own community, I remember hearing local gossip about men committing non-violent crimes like corporate fraud and insider trading. Many of these crimes’ motivations had to do with fear of failure and pressure for success. With men committing crime at higher rates in almost every category, it brings to light the following question: what can we do to narrow the gender gap in offending?

After reviewing my findings, I think it’s clear that gender norms play a significant role in why men commit more crimes than women. So, I believe that to narrow the gap in offending, we must make a conscious effort to relieve men of these pressures. If we work to change gender norms so that men don’t feel like they have to be aggressive to be accepted, then they may be able to cope with their emotions more effectively. As college students, the future of our generation and generations to come is in our hands. We need to raise our boys to understand that emotions and emotional responses do not make them any less masculine. We also need to raise our daughters to not extend the pressures of masculinity onto their peers and classmates. As a generation, we need to work together to redefine gender norms and rid ourselves of these strict and damaging traditional gender stereotypes. Together, if we challenge these gender norms, we can reduce the gender gap in offending and crime rates overall.

Works Cited

Bartle, Jarryd. “The Scientific Reasons Why Men Are More Violent Than Women.” New York Post, The New York Post, 17 Jan. 2019, https://nypost.com/2019/01/16/the-scientific-reasons-why-men-are-more-violent-than-women/. 

Bennett, Sarah, et al. “Explaining Gender Differences in Crime And Violence: The Importance of Social Cognitive Skills.” Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 10, no. 3, 2005, pp. 263–288., https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2004.07.001. 

O’ Conner, Art. “Five Per Cent.” Criminals: Inside the Minds of Criminals And Victims, Marino Books, Dublin, 1996, pp. 107–108. 

Rennison, Callie Marie. “A New Look at the Gender Gap in Offending.” Women & Criminal Justice, vol. 19, no. 3, 2009, pp. 171–190., https://doi.org/10.1080/08974450903001461. Steffensmeier, Darrell, and Emilie Allan. “Gender and Crime: Toward a Gendered Theory of Female Offending.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 22, no. 1, 1996, pp. 459–487., https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.459.