Gender diff in cause of crime Flashcards
Gender diff in cause of crime
Types of crime
• Females more likely to comit victimless crimes such as bribary ect.
• and property damage ( 2019 uk shop theft 34% female 14% male)
• and tv licence evasion: 74%F vs 26% M
• drunkeness incharge of a child (62% vs 38%)
whereas males more likley to comit violent crimes such as assult or murder
and drug crimes
Gender diff in cause of crime
frequency of commiting crime
2021 uk
convictions
21% F 79% M
Arrests
15% F 85%M
Prosecutions
21%F 79%M
shows that men commited more crimes than Females in 2021
(or atleast got caught more)
prison pop
4% F 96%M
Gender diff in cause of crime
brain injury 1/2
TBI
is an aquired brain injury that damages an area of the brain during an accedent
possibly leading to the inverse action of that area of the brain being displayed
e.h. PFC when damaged may no longer inhibit the amygdalas violent emotional impulses
Gender is a factor as males are more likley to engage in risky behaviour such ad contact sports and work in risky industrys such as mines, than women increasing their chances of getting into an accedent and TBI (damaging their brain)
Gender diff in cause of crime
TBI 2/2 ao3
Bruns and Hauser 2003
+ bad ethnocentric 7/12
Bruns and Hauser 2003
The study revealed that in studies of TBI to identify risk groups and mortality
found that males were part of the high risk group along with very young people the elderly and residents of regions with social economic deprivation
Supporting the idea of a genda difference
however out of the 12 studies reviewed
seven were from the United States of America
therefore the overall data has a large percentage of United States participants therefore dilating the overall conclusion making the result ethnocentric and not generalizable to the general population that’s men are more likely to have TBI than women
Overall gender Difference has an effect on TBi not in its effect itself but in how many get TBI
and while B&H 2003 was ethnocentric most studies that weren’t part of the United States of America showed similar results that there was a higher rate of men with TBi than women
so overall it’s more likely for men to get TBi the women showing a gender difference and
TBi may lead to dysfunctioning of certain parts of the brain which may lead to increased criminal behavior
Gender diff in cause of crime
Amygdala 1/2 ao1
hemispheres
The amygdala is the emotional center of the brain
2 hemispheres have different functions
Left: fret detection, general emotion, reaction to environmental cues, more active in the event, Aids the release of adrenaline in danger(flight/fight)
Right: negative emotions, processing of Fear during stimuli and anger regulation
If damaged or faulty in activity may lead to increased aggression and decreased control and detection of danger accurately meaning that adrenaline may be triggered when not necessarily and a decrease of Fear
their may be Gender differences
In which hemisphere of the amygdala is more active in men and women as if men have more active right hemisphere of the Look then there will be an increase in negative emotions such as anger which it explains why there are more men in prisons and more men commit crime
Gender diff in cause of crime
amygdala 2/2 ao3
Shirtcliff et al 2009
indivisual differences (socialisation)
cant create criminal behaviour alone
Shirtcliff et al 2009
Found that girls are more empathetic than boys (Adolescent)
and boys showed more antisocial behaviour than girls
Ie girls amygda has increased empathy and boys have increased antisocialness
possibly meaning that boys have increased functioning in the right Amygdala and the girls have increased functioning in the left Amygdala
Shirtcliff also States however that the finding maybe due to the individual differences in environment introduction during developments such as socialization ( how you taught and act when you were growing up)
not just due to biological differences so not only factor
Overall the amygdala may have a small gender differences that have a small effect on the cause of crime
however the differences themselves may be amplified or inhibited on the basis of individual difference and it’s developments such as during childhood socialization
Therefore while differences are there they are too small (not a significant effect alone) to massively affect the cause of criminal behavior
and therefore meaning it alone dosnt have a significant affect meaning that it can only be a factor that explains the cause of criminal behavior not the only cause
Even rain stated the amygdala alone does not explain violence and criminals therefore gender differences in them do not either
Gender diff in cause of crime
XYY 1/2
Xyy syndrome as a genetic disorder where a male has an extra y chromosome it is said to increase aggression and to decrease empathy in males leading to crime
Only males can have xyy syndrome as it involves the XY chromosomes having an extra y
Gender diff in cause of crime
Xyy 2/2 ao3
howitt 2009
witkin et al 1976 SFP
HOWITT 2009 found xyy males are more common in the offender population than the general population meaning that more become criminals they’re not linking it to aggression and crime
It has been found that xyy is no more as violent as XY and it is more likely that the violent crime that they are committing is due to social reasons / expectations to do crime
i.e self fulfilling prophecy of the label of xyy meaning that somebody is a criminal being internalized of an Xyy men actualy become criminals
Evidence for this is found in witkin et al 1976 who found in a Danish prison there were 12 xyy men zero committed violent crimes and they were likely to be in there for social factors (i.e internalisation sfp) not biological
Therefore overall while only men can get XYY syndrome which is a gender difference
it is not a gender difference for the cause of criminal behaviour
as XYy does not cause criminal behaviour the self-fulfilling prophecy of xyy being criminal being internalized causes criminal behaviour
therefore meaning that there is no gender difference and XY why causing criminal behavior because it doesn’t
Gender diff in cause of crime
Eysenck’s PEN personality theory 1/2 ao1
10 personality Theory differentiates personality characteristics on levels of 3 separate dimensions to determin if someone has a PEN personality:
high Neuroticism: increase in moodiness, overreactive to stress, anxious
high Extrovertism: increase the impulsiveness, risk-taking, quick to anger
High psychoticism: increase of impulses, aggression, hostility
a PEN personality has high scores in all 3
and is characterised as: high chance of criminal tendencies/violence
Some genders may generally score higher/lower than others in certain categories which could result in overall one gender on average having a more/ less PEN personality than the other therefore explain the cause of crime
for example if men are found to have a higher chance of having a PEN personality it’s explains why men are the majority in the prison population
Gender diff in cause of crime
Eysenck’s PEN personality theory 2/2
Hollin 1992
And hormones effect psychotivism so high score not reflect the characteristics of high psychoticism so gender diff not accurate to deffonition of PEN personality and cant explain a cause of crim behaviour
Hollin 1992 showed that eysenck found most men scored higher in psychoticism than most women correlating the prison population where the majority is men
showing that men overall have a higher psychoticism meaning on average a more aggressive and impulsive than women
this correlates into the fact that the mainly men do violent crime
Psychoticism scores however have been linked to testosterone which men naturally have an abundance of
so this could be an extension of that meaning that to be gender differences not due to the personality of somebody just having a higher psychoticism
but due to biological hormone factors such as men having more testosterone than women
( testosterone has been linked to aggression by wanger et al 1979 who gave testosterone to castrated mice which went back to precastration levels of aggression )
therefore overall while a gender difference is present
it seems to be an extension of biological hormones not personality itself
as it appears that men’s high psychoticism scores are simply due to having high levels of testosterone (which may cause aggression)
but there may be other factors that result in high psychoticism as men who have high testosterone may not show traits associated with psychoticism such as a lack of empathy
therefore meaning
psychoticism high score in men not reflect the characteristics of high psychoticism so gender diff not accurate to deffonition of PEN personality and cant be used to explain the cause of criminal behaviour
Gender diff in cause of crime
Labeling and self-fulfilling prophecy
1/2 ao1
Labeling is where somebody makes a judgment of somebody else possibly based on characteristics actions or stereotypes surrounding a person
This may have a stigma which is a mark of disgrace which affects the self-concept which is hard to remove once given and and people may treat and think of somebody in negative ways because of it
If this label is internalized and somebody believes it and conform to it and change their behavior in accordance of this label which they’re able to do because they have a low self-concept ( to know who you are) this is self-fulfilling prophecy
Sertain genders may have less resistance to labeling than others due to their self-concept being easier to influence and alter
meaning that they would be more susceptible to SFP and internalize the label possibly explaining criminal behavior and the causes of crime
Gender diff in cause of crime
Labeling and self-fulfilling prophecy 2/2 ao3
Mcgrath 2014
Types of crime committed going against gender stereotypes
Mcgrath 2014
Interviewed 69 females and 325 male Adolescent offenders in youth courts
It was found that in females the higher the perceived stigmatism of the Crime the more likely they were too reoffend
This trend was not present in males
becoming a Criminal and getting a custodoral sentence and having previous convictions and being young doing your first offence increase stigmas
This meant that becoming a criminal with a stigma affected their self-concept causing the internalization of the criminal label meaning that they reoffended
this result could be due to going against the stereotype that women aren’t criminals
and therefore the label is internalized and they are judged more than men who people would have more likely of expected to Become a Criminal
The result of increased stigmatism may be due to the types of crime committed rather than stereotypes
As serious crime such as drug abuse and aggravated assault may have caused the high stigmatism which then caused receividism
Overall labeling an sfp alone seems have evidence showing gender differences leading to criminal behaviour
As both going against the stereotype that girls aren’t criminals and then being labeled criminal then internalizing that label and re-offending would cause female to commit crime
The stereotype that men are more aggressive and more likely to become criminals would also be internalized and they would commit crime
Therefore showing that gender differences in labeling and self-affer feeling prophecy caused criminal behavior in different ways supporting the explanation that gender differences can explain A cause in criminal behavior
Gender diff in cause of crime
Social learning theory 1/2 ao1
Pennington 1986’s 3 variables affecting imitation
Social learning theory is learning behavior through imitation of models behaviors
You need a high self efficacy to believe that you have the ability to imitate the models actions and
if you have a poor self-concept ( knowing who you are as a person) crime is likely
Pennington 1986 found three variables affecting imitation:
1) characteristics of a real model i.e gender, age, status
2: touristics of The Observer: self esteem /self-effcacy
3: consequences of behavior for the model if they’re rewarded or punished
Therefore due to this gender is a fact if it affects imitation
Gender diff in cause of crime
Social learning theory
2/2 ao3
Bandora’s 1961 study and 63
vs 65 and rewards closing gap
but not enough
Bandora’s 1961 study
As well as the 1963 study found that boys the more aggressive towards Bobo dolls than girls
They also found that boys in the aggressive condition where more aggressive if the model was male rather than female
Girls in the aggressive condition increase their physical aggression if there was a male model
and increase their verbal aggression if there was a female model
However in bandora 1965 they found that girls are almost as aggressive as boys if offer than a war for their behavior
A rewards for their crime such as money (external) maybe status or excitement (internal) therefore reducing the gender difference in Criminal behavior and social learning theory
Overall gender seems play a role in the cause of criminal behavior showing boys be more aggressive overrun girls fitting with the prison population
But both can be close when offered rewards
Despite this the gap between them still ( girls become almost as aggressive as boys not just as aggressive as boys indicating there is still a difference) exists therefore the role of gender even if it is reduced may explain a cause of criminal behavior
Gender diff in cause of crime
Conclusion
Overall it is suggested with the aforementioned evidence that social learning theory, self-affer filling prophecy / labeling, and traumatic brain injury all have gender differences in the cause of crime
and while the amigla appears to have different relating to crime it isn’t significant enough to do so alone
And xyy while having a gender difference doesn’t cause crime
And Pen personality theory by eysenck appears to have a gender difference this is however more likely due to natural hormonal differences affecting the scores not men with high testosterone actually being more high in the characteristic traits of high psychoticism such as a lack of empathy has plenty of men are empathetic
For overall it seems gender differences have one or small, effect at explaining the causes of criminal behaviour
