The study explores the possibility that gender differences exist in the perceived threats of shame and embarrassment as well as legal sanctions, and that these differences vary between more patriarchal and less patriarchal households. It also determines the relative impact of the informal sanction threat variables compared with the formal legal sanctions. Significant gender differences existed in the perceived threats of embarrassment and formal sanctions and these differences varied by household of origin type. In addition, among those individuals reared in more patriarchal households, the perceived threat of shame accounted for a significant proportion of the gender-crime relationship. The study’s models did not incorporate other socializing events such as education, marriage, having children, and divorce. Future research exploring the impact of patriarchy on gender differences in behavior and attitudes, criminal and otherwise, should examine the impact of such events. Notes, tables, references