Explaining gender differences in crime and violence: The importance of social cognitive skills

Abstract

Studies have consistently shown higher rates of offending for males than for females, and especially higher rates of violence. Gender differences in the development of social cognition may help to explain gender differences in crime and violence. How an individual ultimately responds to a stressful life event or risk factor depends on how that event is perceived, which, in turn, depends on an individual's cognitive processes. Social information-processing skills allow individuals to encode information, interpret and consider risks and benefits of a particular action, and determine an appropriate response based on their repertoire of behavioral scripts. It is not necessarily suggested that deficiencies in cognitive capabilities cause crime, but rather that certain ways of processing social information and certain social cognitive memory structures help to protect the individual from personal, social, environmental, or situational pressures towards criminal behavior. One of the reasons females have lower rates of offending is because they acquire social cognitive skills earlier in life than males do and because they have better prosocial skills. The superior social cognitive skills of females are influenced by many factors, including better interhemispheric communication, fewer frontal lobe deficits, greater verbal ability, and differential socialization by parents and peers. More research is needed on how well gender differences in crime and violence can be explained by gender differences in social cognition.