Introduction
Delinquency is considered to be a male phenomenon, but the theoretical and practical evidences underline the fact that it could also refer to women. This hypothesis came from the ancient times when men were violent leaders who started wars. At the same time females were thought about as victims and were said to be passive and kind in comparison to men. Changes were brought by the severe struggle for female rights and the increase of the social role of women. Moreover, one of the significant aspects came from the geographical location of female representatives. This research paper is devoted to the comparison of female and male delinquency in order to understand the main aspects that form personal behavior and influence criminal activity.
In fact, the lack of attention to the female delinquency causes the misunderstanding of their motives for committing crimes. Social scientists were the first to research the facts of female delinquency and discover its nature. Their researches were based on the statistics, but there were no actual evidence of the issue (Puzzanchera, Sickmund, M., 2011).
There is a need to underline that first significant results of the researches were based on cases where the females were accused of committing crimes. Thus, the number of such crimes increased dramatically in the period between 1985 and 2008. The relevant data points the fact that in 2008 more females were accused of property and person offences. However, till present time it is discovered that women are more likely to commit not serious crimes such as underage drinking, theft, and sometimes body injury (Cobbina, J, & Miller, J., 2010).
Scientific Hypothesis about Female Delinquency
A recent research in the criminal psychology shows that the increase of female delinquency is directly connected with the increase of number of unemployed women, sexual exploitation, and increase of male violence. The important notion concerning the issue was proposed by the group of scientists that insists on the fact that female delinquency or criminality is under the strong influence of the liberation hypothesis. This liberation hypothesis was proposed by Adler (2011) who was one of the first to declare the equality of crimes committed by males and females.
The main idea was connected with the proper transformation of gender roles in the society. In such a way Adler showed the development of female roles in the society from cooking, cleaning, and taking care about the children to working in political sphere, fighting for women rights, and working as police officers. All these changes lead to the considerable increase of the female delinquency (Adler, 2011)
The author also underlined that there are four main aspects that are connected with sex determination concerning the criminal activity: size, level of aggression, strength, and domination. Men are more likely to demonstrate all of these four elements. Moreover, Adler (2011) admits that female criminal rate was lower during the period of industrialization when most women were working at the industrial positions. The result of the behavioral development and division of roles was obvious, so women demonstrated less power and aggression, and it was the reason of the low female delinquency. With the development of technologies and industrialization, representatives of both genders became equal in committing various crimes.
Explanation of the Main Reasons of Female Delinquency
Most of existing theories on the issue are not able to give rational explanation of the gender stratification in male-dominated society and its connection with the level of female delinquency. The research should cover the main statements of the feminist theory of delinquency and discover the way the criminal justice influences formation of gender stereotypes. Moreover, most of attention should be paid to the personal life of female criminals and specific aspects that could influence their behavior such as racism, poverty, and sexual exploitation. Some of young girls are sexually abused in their homes, so they changed their environment and became more likely to become criminals living on the streets. It is important to mention that main crimes committed by women are prostitution and theft. However, the patriarchal system of society forces women to act aggressively and force them to the criminal activity mentioned above. As a result, criminal justice system plays essential role in the process of female transformation into the criminals (Chesney-Lind, 2004).
Social Aspect of Delinquency
Human beings are considered to be a part of the society, so behavior of individual is essentially influenced by the environment. Though it is the matter of concern for the entire society to form the environment that would positively impact on young generation in order to prevent possible criminal activity, police should also be involved in it, decrease the level of criminal violence, and focus its attention on the crime prevention. All the methods should concentrate on gender specifications and consider the best solution for female and male representatives of society. Major part of attention on this issue should be also paid to the economic situation and its connection to the rate of crimes.
The criminal science stated that there are four main categories of offences: person, property, public, and drug offences. However, research conducted by the social scientists shows that the criminal rate among females increased from 12% to 23% in the period between 1995 and 2005 (Danred, 2008)Thus, all of the abovementioned categories are represented by female criminals. While males are committing crimes that lead to arrest and which are considered to be serious crimes, female offenders are arrested for running away from police (almost 58%) and prostitution (nearly 66 %). While men are likely to commit violent crimes, women are believed to commit crimes that require high level of brain activity (for example frauds). Apart from it, hormones could also effect on the female delinquency (Chesney-Lind, 2004).
Nowadays practice of crime investigation shows that the situation with the rates of female delinquency became worse and the number of female criminals has increased dramatically. Thus, in 2012 the amount of offences committed by females was nearly 31 %. The ideas about the reasons of such rates vary depending on the key points that influence female delinquency. Most of social and criminal scientists declare that economic situation, geographical location, social environment, family relationships, and education are the main elements that should be taken into account while deciding the main reasons of criminal activity. All of the factors mentioned above are forming the personality, his/her behavior, and possible model of activity. The research of these issues should be directed at two main goals: understanding the essence of female delinquency and its main reasons, and prevention of crimes.
Conclusion
To conclude, there is a need to underline that there are certain differences in female and male delinquency that came from the human nature, models of behavior, and life style. Thus, it is a wrong opinion that while women are not committing murders, there is no need to pay attention to their possible behavior as society changes and the way of life differ from what we had, for example, in 2005.
Therefore, it should be taken into account while deciding to complete a deep research of the criminal activity demonstrated by females. There is no need to point the fact that female delinquency is in the direct connection with the whole range of environmental changes that are used to happen in the society. The level of crimes comitted depends on the family relationships, education, geographical location, economic situation, and social position of individual. There are several differences between male and female delinquency, especially when speaking about the types of offences committed by women who are likely to commit theft, fraud, or body injury. So, a deep research should be conducted before stating the main reasons of female criminal activity.
