Gender and criminal thinking among individuals convicted of white-collar crimes

Abstract

ABSTRACTOne possible explanation for the gender distribution of white-collar offending may be gender related differences in criminal thinking styles. This paper uses the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) to compare women and men convicted of white-collar type crimes on eight different thinking styles and three summary scales. The results showed that both women and men convicted of white-collar type crimes had low criminal thinking scores on the PICTS. On some styles, women scored higher than men, but the differences were small. Regression analyses found that after controlling for other factors gender predicted proactive, reactive, and general criminal thinking: on average women scored higher than men on all three scales. However, the results also showed that measures of risk and needs were stronger predictors of criminal thinking than gender. Recommendations for future research and policy to address gender similarities and differences among people convicted of white-collar type offenses are discussed.