NCJ Number
185518
Date Published
January 2000
Length
57 pages
Annotation
This chapter reviews research on changes over time in the
relative crime of women and men.
Abstract
The author analyzes Uniform Crime Reports data on the gender gap
in offending from 1960 to 1997 and concludes that there has been
an appreciable narrowing of the gap over this period in both
property and violent offenses. The article then assesses the
evidence in the criminological literature regarding the possible
reasons for these changes, including the economic marginalization
hypothesis. The chapter then reviews evidence from demographic
and economic research regarding the increasing marginalization of
women and concludes that changes in the gender gap in crime are
consistent with the findings of this research. The author
proposes avenues for extending and refining the economic
marginalization perspective. One avenue that research must pursue
is the development of statistical tests of the contributions of
the various demographic and economic trends bearing on the
economic marginalization of women and the gender ratio of crime,
including increases in the prevalence of female-headed
households, the gender gap in wages, increases in income
dispersion, and increases in the unemployment of female heads of
households. A second avenue for research is the elaboration of
the theoretical basis of the economic marginalization thesis by
showing how the demographic and economic factors that create
women's marginalization influence the group-level and
individual-level mechanisms that contribute to gender differences
in offending. 10 exhibits, 19 notes, and 117 references
Date Published: January 1, 2000