Gender and Crime

Gender and Crime Sex is commonly used to describe the innate biological characteristics

of humans constituting their femaleness or maleness. Gender on the

other hand, covers the social characteristics and usages associated

with one sex or the other. Since such roles and customs can vary and

be modified it follows that masculine and feminine the terms applied

to the respective genders are much more flexible than female and male.

In order to cover the subject of gender and crime it is important to

explain its prehistory and standing as well as addressing the

extensive material which appeared in the modern period of high

fertility.

Of course the definition of what is a woman or a man by no means

always straightforward. Since such roles and customs can vary and be

modified it follows that masculine and feminine the terms applied to

the respective genders are much more flexible than female and male.

Feminism has raised many uncomfortable questions for criminologist and

has been critical of mainstream criminology for its gender-neutral

focus and its exclusion of women.

When the female was considered, she was generally seen as being

inferior to the male. Although conformity was generally to be

appreciated, when women conformed it showed their inferiority. This

inferiority was of the same type whether it was seen as arising out of

biological, psychological or social reasons.

The woman was seen dependent passive, uncompetitive, immature,

unachieving, unintelligent, emotional subjective and irrational.

Feminists in various ways have cha...

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...l. The

inadequancy of these test is one reason to view with some scepticism

the conclusions of research on intelligence and criminality. Anyway

theories they are more commonly based upon empricl research which can

be more easily assumed.

Most of them assume that each individual has a central or core

personality which can explain reactions to most stimuli and will

determine the likelihood of becoming criminally involved. However

different theories link different personality types to criminality,

which means difficult to choose between them.

The criminal justice system expects them to determine the

responsibility of individual so that the court can better decide how

to punish while the system, society and the offender all want the

offenders behaviour to alter so as not to include criminality in the

future.