ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the gender ratio problem. It is beyond the scope of traditional sociological criminology because sociology views gender differences in traits and behavior solely as products of differential socialization. It is reasoned that males are socialized to be aggressive, dominant, and tough, which are traits conducive to criminal behavior, and females are socialized to be nurturing, empathetic, and conforming, which are traits conducive to prosocial behavior. Biosocial explanations of gender differences in criminality rest on a firm foundation of differential neurological organization shaped by a complicated mlange of prenatal genetic and hormonal processes. Male and female brains can be distinguished on the basis of structural organization at the gross, cellular, and molecular levels: Thousands of studies have documented sex differences in the brain in practically any parameter imaginable. Cale and Lilienfeld describe self-report studies of psychopathic traits based on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), which contains subscales measuring Machiavellian egocentricity, coldheartedness, fearlessness, impulsiveness, and stress immunity.
