Good Girls Are Bad Girls That Haven’t Been Caught … Yet

This post reminds me of the book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. You might enjoy the chapter called "Where Have All the Criminals Gone?" If that chapter isn't available via Google Books, it's worth buying the entire book or checking it out from the library.

I wonder if there is any correlation to the fact that women are more likely to battle issues of depression and anxiety and men are more likely to battle addiction.

By that, I mean I wonder if crime "preference" is a result of the gender influence on personality. Risk taking, aggression, etc. might make some crime more appealing because it fits a personality better.

Just a thought. Don't know if there is any statistical basis for such a correlation.

You are quite spot on with that observation. In the link posted above, it links to other pages that describe all about the tendencies of both genders.

Another factor is motivation. Men will kill to achieve status (status is one of their sore spots - always aiming for the top, but getting sideswiped by someone else). Women generally commit crimes to protect loved ones than to achieve a greater status.

Women also rely on crime opportunity rather than risk taking. It is very true that parenting these days encourages risk-taking behaviors from men and are discouraged from women. To me, it is folly to discriminate that way. But this is another reason why women wouldn't want to risk everything to commit a crime. They have been taught all their lives not to do such things.

It all depends on the skill set. Women will stick to the skills they have. That may explain why instead of using guns or knives (physical weapons), they choose poison or arson. Not many women I know pride themselves in knowing how to use a gun or knife.

But you know women who pride themselves on using poisons and arson?

Remind me not to make you angry!

They may not pride themselves. But think of it this way, they cook your food. How hard would it be for your lovely wife/girlfriend/acquaintance to slip something in your food right before you get home from a hard day at work? You have to eat sometime. It isn't suspicious if a female cooks you a meal, which adds to the discreet/deceitfulness of the crime. If a male made you a meal, you would be suspicious!

Believe it or not, I may cook more of the meals in my house than my wife does. And I think you'd be surprised by the number of cases where that is the norm, or that it is at least an equal partnership.

It isn't the 1960's after all. When I am getting home from a long day at work, so is she. If I said, "Woman. Cook me dinner." She wouldn't even yell. She'd just laugh.

But your point is taken. I think the gem in what you said is that women engage in crimes of opportunity more than anything else.

If a male made you a meal, you would be suspicious!

??
What century are you living in?...Cooking is the new whatever...it's a renaissance/modern/real man thing.

Del

You are right. In some households the men dabble in the vast art of cooking. I would be willing to bet however that women still do a majority of the cooking. I know that my father does 'man the grill' once in a while and does the occasional manly chili with enough spice to put 'hair on your chest'. But even so, my mom still does the majority of cooking - for dinner anyways.

While women may have different motivations, their crimes are often more heinous. In particular, filicide (killing of their own children) is most frequently observed to be carried out by the female rather than the male of our species, usually with a motivation aimed at protection of the children from some nebulous threat. Often, there is post-partum depression involved or some mental issues with the woman. The psychiatric issues involved are just now coming under intense study.

It is also true that many corrections officers prefer to work in higher security men's prisons than lower security women's prisons because they say women are more vindictive, more deceptive, and are willing to wait years for the perfect opportunities to enact whatever action they feel is necessary.

I know several CO's at Comstock in Fort Edward, NY and the ones I do know say that is the massive general consensus of all of the men that work there.

Female CO's might have a different opinion.

I thought for the most part for males, addiction was the response to handle depression and anxiety

That could very well be....

Most of the time men get caught doing a crime,but most women are careful not to--get caught that is.Also men and women are not in the same category,what about prositution.

I believe you are correct with your theory about women being careful not to get caught. Plus, women are probably more likely (this is a theory of mine) to back out of a crime if the original opportunity becomes more complex, regardless of whether they look 'macho' or not. Males might look 'lame' or worse for not going through with a crime in the eyes of his buddies. Females probably also don't always disclose their criminal plans with buddies. Remember, that was speculation - not fact.

Prostitution is the only crime category for where female representation is greater than males. But while age has had nothing to do with other categories, age is a major factor. Representation for females significantly decreases as they get older, but the male representation seems to increase.

"For example, males arrested under a solicitation of prostitution charge may be men old enough to have acquired the power to be pimps or the money to be customers..."

Link: http://law.jrank.org/pages/1249/Gender-Crime-Similarities-in-male-female-offending-rates-patterns.html

What do you mean that men and women are not in the same category? They are represented in every crime category - and more often than not, it is men that are committing more crimes than females (that is what has been found by observation and study - see link above - with the only exception being prostitution).

Well...one thing about prostitution: yes, it is a crime committed mostly by women. But then again, they need someone to commit the crime with, and since that would most often be a man, that wouldn't statistically add to the argument for a female crime rate increase.

It might increase it some, but only nominally, I would guess.

You should come to the UK, over here girls a commiting as many crimes as the men, especially when it comes to exteme violence! Girls get drunk as much as men, and then go on to kick people to death or stab them, and I am not talking about grown up women. Girls doing this sort of thing start at the age of 10, they also have sex by that age, and there are many births by girls under 13 in the UK!!!

Gun and knife crime within teenage gangs have risen to an alarming rate over her, and the perpetrators are are starting to kill or maim as young as 11.

Spencer.

Wait... are you trying to convince me to go to the UK or not?

I honestly can't say that I am convinced to go there.

Criminal acts are carried out by both sexes. It is not an issue of whether women are capable of violence or other criminal actions. Crime is a matter of opportunity and the state of one's heart. Not physical heart, spiritual heart.

It isn't likely to be demonstrable, because without being caught, who knows the gender of the criminal - and often, even whether a crime was committed? Sure, you might know something went missing - but was it stolen, or misplaced? Vandalism or arson are pretty clear-cut, but how often is the perpetrator totally ambiguous? It's an interesting question, but the answer is likely to always be clouded in this kind of non-answer.

Woman may very well be committing the same number of crimes as men. But they are less serious crimes. That's the variable here. You see, it is less likely a person would 'get away' with a more serious crime. The least serious the crime, the better chance you have of getting away with it. Define 'more criminal'. Is it the intensity of the crime (a more serious crime) OR is it the number of crimes committed? Perhaps the crime should be weighed?

In my opinion, a more serious crime carries more weight.

A man commits murder.

A woman commits fraud and a misdemeanor assault.

Who's more criminal?

When it comes to breaking the law, in these cases, does it matter who is more criminal? They both are.

I do understand that argument if you are talking about murder vs. speeding, but violent crime is violent crime. Both, if guilty, should be prosecuted.