Characteristics and attitudes regarding sex roles of violent and non-violent female offenders

Abstract

The differences in male and female criminal activity and trends have been noted over the last 100 years through official records that have not been the subject of much research. Many theorists in psychology and criminology felt that the differences were due to biology, while others cited environmental factors. This study was a descriptive and comparative investigation addressing traditional masculinity/femininity on the Attitude Toward Women Scale and the Bem Inventory. Patterns in the data were compared for the violent offenders and the non-violent offenders on the two test scales. Statistically significant similarities and differences within group and between groups were analyzed by way of the Pearson's chi-square, a one-way analysis of variance, and Tukey's test of significant difference. The more educated women were less likely to commit crimes, use illegal drugs or drink alcohol excessively. Those women who were victimized, either as adults or as children were more traditionally feminine in their belief systems. Although both the AWS and the BI ostensibly measure the same or similar things, they do not correlate with each other. Both the AWS and the BI are useful in determining a woman's world view of her place in society. These tests tend to confirm the researcher's expectation that the more traditional the female offender's belief system, the more likely that the criminal behavior may be violent in nature.