ABSTRACT
On the face of it gender appears to be a key variable that might help us understand criminal behaviour. The vast majority of crime is committed by men. A couple of important facts concerning the differential rates of crime are that: the finding of relatively high levels of criminality amongst men compared with women appears to be a robust one across cultures. This may suggest that there is something constitutional in the differences between men and women. However, the different rates of serious crime across cultures, and evidence of some variation across time (Feeley and Little 1991) suggest that culture and environment have their part to play as well. This chapter analyses different explanations that we need to use theories of gender that are both more culturally sensitive and able to integrate issues of individual psychology.
