Agnew's Theory Of Gender And Crime

When it comes to gender and crime most theories have typically focused on males and how they have influence crime rates, however in this modern day and age it is imperative to discuss and debate why gender is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of crime. We would like to use Agnew’s theory and take it one step further to hypothesis why men (who were at least born male and identify as male) commit significantly more crime or why women (who were at least born female and identify as female) commit significantly less.

Various theories have taken approach to this question however we shall take the perspective of Agnew’s general strain theory; to summarize Agnew claims he reasons that people commit crime as a response or coping mechanism

When people think of what defines a man they typically think of masculinity, talent, athleticism, intelligence, power, wealth, leadership, they think of him providing for his family, never backing away from a challenge, or achieving some legacy that of which can be pass down. With expectations like that it is no wonder some men feel the strain that they do, there is such an emphasis on pleasures and success that when reality hit them it hit them hard. When they failed to achieve the goals that were imposed on them it all disappears, their hopes and dreams of fame and adoration, their legacy, and whatever else that was planned in their grand future is goes away. When there is nothing left to look forward to but the burden of life and the need to survive strain like that will lead to negative emotions, they become distraught, they become angry, and they become desperate. However they may still cling on to the notion of material success and thus they turn to property crime to pay for their bills and violent crimes to distract them from the lingering despair. When they feel that they will lose or have already lost their job, their friends, and their family when they feel like they are losing control of their social life they can turn to violent crime to vent out their frustrations to somebody, property crime if they feel apathetic and no longer care for what others might think, and to robberies hoping that if they can get away they will be able to feed whatever addictions they picked up to cope with. When they feel like the world no longer cares for them as they themselves are taunted at, beaten, and bruised they might start to think that crime and violence is the only way to gain any respect, any attention, any feeling left in their empty lives so they may end up joining criminal peer groups to