Introduction
A crime is defined as an act or omission, which establishes an offence, and is punishable by law. Crimes are committed by both males and females in any society, and the United Kingdom is no exception to this rule. Naturally, the gender of a person often dictates the rate, type and the extent of crime committed. Although a committed crime has the same legal consequences, there exists some differences in terms of who commit them, the rate of their commission and the extent to which they are committed. The rate of crimes committed by males is more than that committed by females at any one given time (Aebi 195). This essay will elaborately and succinctly discuss the causes and effects of gender on crimes in the United Kingdom.
Context
Historically, crimes in the United Kingdom were predominantly committed by more males than the females. Specifically, violent crimes were considered to be their special kind of crime (University of Northampton 1); such attribution is majorly so because of the masculinity of men and the tendency to be tough and aggressive as compared to their female counterparts. This position is true even in today’s society of the United Kingdom where the trend is eminent and glaring. There is a myriad of causes of differences of crimes committed in the United Kingdom based on gender of the offenders (Renzetti et al. 167). To start with, socialization of the males and females is key. Girls are more socialized than boys through early life training in the family set up and the society, which demands that females are to be warmly and welcoming (Crespi 2). Being aggressive or harming any member of the society through criminal activities becomes difficult. In contrast, boys are trained to be tough, aggressive and encouraged to take risky adventures to learn survival. In the long run, these tendencies present great opportunities for boys to commit crimes more than girls.
The role models, which the different genders have while growing up is also a factor that creates the different tendencies to commit crimes in the United Kingdom (Cohen 202). As children grow, either of the parents or the guardians have a role to play in their grooming, life skills and access to knowledge. The female are attached to their mothers and the males to their fathers. Therefore, through their respective associations, they are socialized differently; hence, even the activities they engage in are different in nature. The male engage in energy-demanding and violent kind of activities while the female become less aggressive. This affects the children, and as they grow up, they retain these characteristics into their adulthood (Cohen 202-203).
Interestingly, the society also directs and shapes the gender which commits crime through its perspectives of both the male and female genders. The society normally sees issues and roles played by genders from the perspective of the males. Simply stated, to the human eye, a man comes first before the female in any given situation. Therefore, the crimes of the male are socially more pronounced than those committed by their female counterparts.
In some situations, the environment in which a child grows often dictate who is more vulnerable to commit crimes; thus, it is true where the child grows up in a family where the father is always abusive. For the female child, this often mean that they are powerless and would always be under the dominance of the male and abused; they therefore fear engaging in violent situation (Lassieur 24). To the male child and considering that the father is the role model, they copy the violent behaviors of the father and the possibility to commit crime in future is significant.
Women’s and men’s criminality has always been different. The female has always been considered to be a lesser offender than the males. Historically, they have been found to engage in offences such as shoplifting, receiving stolen goods, stealing from their masters and pickpocketing or keeping brothels. These offences are not as heinous as those committed by the males (Emsley, Hitchcock and Shoemaker 1). It is very difficult to find men engaging in these kinds of crimes. The offences committed by men normally surround things to do with robbery, murder, rape, terrorism, fraud and many other crimes, which require use of force (Emsley, Hitchcock and Shoemaker 1).
The number of offenders in the United Kingdom also varies on those types of offences committed by either gender. Although most of the offences are gender- specific, according to the research recently undertaken and in comparison with historical developments of crimes and gender in the United Kingdom, there is a definite trend of crime commission. The number of males committing crimes is higher than that of females (Emsley, Hitchcock and Shoemaker 1). This pattern is explained by the causal factors of differences of crimes committed by males and females. One of them as already explained is the different socialization of the genders; aggressive upbringing of the male and the compassionate upbringing of the females. Another explanation emanates from the nature of life and the type of work and tools, which the female and the male can access.
Men are always with weapons such as guns for work or general work shop tools, unlike women who are not. Coupled with the natural aggressiveness of the male, the tools are always used as weapons whenever they are provoked. This aspect affects both the rate and nature of the crimes committed by them. Primarily, because they are they easily access these tools, they often use them for attack or defence. As compared to tools available to females, the tools men use cause more damage or injuries to their victims; hence, the extents and of the crime is often deeper and calls for heavy punishment (Emsley, Hitchcock and Shoemaker 1).
Characteristic 2: Effect of Fear of Crime by the Male and Female Genders
Notably, men do not fear being exposed to violent situations. They tend not to need any protection from any person. Their ability to withstand or experience violence exposes them to be violent as well as experiencing violence because violence in most cases results in criminal acts punishable by law (Kinsella 5). For women, being exposed to violent situations is an unwelcomed notion; they fear violence even if it does not affect them directly and will try by all means to avoid it (Belknap 219-223). This fear functions to regulate the women’s vulnerability to commit personal crimes Instead of behaving like their male counterparts, the females leans towards friendliness (Kinsella 5).
Characteristic 2: Effect of either Gender on Punishment of the Crimes they Commit
A crime once committed does not again rely on the gender of the suspect or perpetrator for it to be counted as a crime. The law is very clear in defining the crimes, and the punishment for it is the same. However, there has been a discriminative practice in the United Kingdom in sentencing the offenders are often sentenced to undertake a community sentences than the males who are given custodial sentences (Ministry of Justice 47). The courts have thus recognized that male and female offenders are not the same in various aspects, and subjecting them to the same punishment might result to certain kinds of injustice. In this sense, gender also affects the distribution of punishment for the offences they commit.
Similarities of the effects of gender on crimes in the United Kingdom
The similarities of roles played by gender in commission of crimes in the United Kingdom are not as many as the differences, which have been discussed. Generally, crimes in the United Kingdom are majorly committed by younger people than older people. The younger people include both males and females alike. Most of the teenagers, if given chance, commit more crimes than the older generation, irrespective of their gender. They have high energies to undertake various criminal activities.
Furthermore, due to exposure to the new generational activities and ideas through the internet, both the males and the female have equal access to information, which teach them criminal behaviours. A close scrutiny of the development in technology and accessibility to these facilities indicate that the young generation has focused their lives on the gadgets and machine, which help them access information, which in most cases, is harmful to them. Poverty also has a role to play in crime. Both the poor males and females affected by poverty in one way or the other, engage in crime to afford the basic necessities, which they lack. Poverty has a close tie to violence, criminal damage and drug use (Ferguson 1). They escalate the rate of committed crimes (Manon 1). Poverty affects both genders in the United Kingdom; thus, it does not matter the person affected by poverty. Unemployment also affect the genders at the same rate. Crimes committed because of lack of money are almost the same as those committed because of poverty. Gender plays a very noticeable role in specific categories of crimes committed. Both the male and female gender have specific areas in which they are expert in undertaking criminal activities.
While the females can be said to be petty offenders, especially in offences such as shoplifting, receiving stolen goods, stealing from their masters and lodging houses, aborting and related birth crimes, pickpocketing or keeping brothels, their male counter parts are more experienced in high tech and aggressive crimes such as corporate frauds in general, capital offences such as murder, rape or assault. It is vital to note that gender controls who commits crime. However, this is just a general statement, which does not mean that the male-oriented crimes cannot be committed by the females or vice versa. These similarities are thus important in understanding the nature, type and extent of crimes committed in the United Kingdom, and helps in understanding the society, the crimes and their committers; hence, administration of appropriate punishment.
Conclusion and Evaluation
Crime has been a major social problem in the United Kingdom because of different socialization of the genders. The major causes of the difference in commission of crime in the United Kingdom is majorly socialization, poverty and unemployment. It is therefore understandable that although the law and the society defines and understand crime in simple terms, there are root causes of the various degrees, types and the rates in which they are committed by different genders. Socialization shapes the individuals from the moment they learn to know the differences between good and bad. The aggressive and violent socialization has been associated to the male gender, which commits most of the heinous and most aggressive offenses. The females are however trained against violence; hence, their inclinations towards engaging in less aggressive crimes, which in most cases, are less aggressive from those committed by the boys and men. On the other side, poverty and unemployment is a common factor that cause both genders to engage in criminal activities in the United Kingdom.
Works Cited
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