NCJ Number
228317
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: July-September 2009 Pages: 171-190
Date Published
July 2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between gender and violent offending.
Abstract
Results indicate that the growing concern over an epidemic about increasingly violent females is not supported; violent offending among females continues to be low. The relative difference in male and female offending rates is best described as stable: 9 of 81 comparisons of ratios were indicative of gender convergence. No evidence of gender divergence was found in the analyses regardless of the years compared, the offender's race, or the offender's age. An important finding from the study did emerge: the importance of accounting for the offender's race and age. Race, age, or gender alone does not predict the rank ordering of offending among groups. In addition, although the study did not test the women's liberation hypothesis, the results did not support the idea that an increase in the equality and independence of women would result in a convergence in offending rates between males and females. Although this study did not test the economic marginalization hypothesis, the results offer some support for it. Finally, these results offer no support for the notion found even in contemporary treatments on gender and violence, that female offending is a growing problem. This study analyzed data collected from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) from1992 to 2001. Tables, figures, notes, and references