NCJ Number
153592
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 85 Issue: 1 Dated: (Summer 1994) Pages: 80-180
Date Published
1994
Length
101 pages
Annotation
This article explains some of the gender disparity found in the longitudinal Biosocial Study, which found significant gender differences in the prevalence of crime, with males committing more criminal and violent acts than females, and showing a greater propensity to reoffend. The article considers the consequences of the study results in terms of whether there should be a gender- based sentencing standard.
Abstract
With some exceptions, biological factors predicted crime better among females, while environmental factors were better predictors of crime among males. More factors overall were correlated with crime among females than among males. Following an introductory section, the article analyzes the literature and research in gender differences in crime. The next section describes the Biosocial Study and its results, and proposes a new gender- based defense which incorporates the finding of gender variation among predictors of crime. The fourth section considers whether gender differences warrant disparate types of punishment or treatment by analyzing the gender-variant defense within a continuum of four gender-based defenses: gender-specific, gender- dominant, gender-variant, and gender-cultural. The author concludes that sentencing decisions based upon generalizations about the immutable individual characteristics such as gender would constitute the worst kind of stereotyping. 421 notes and 3 appendixes