ABSTRACT
Braithwaite (1989: 44) suggests that the fact that crime is committed disproportionately by males is the first fact that any theory of crime should fit. What facts like this actually represent, however, has not always been subjected to detailed scrutiny within criminology. However, before examining some of the questions that are raised by this empirical reality, this introduction will construct a picture of what the patterning of criminal behaviour according to sex actually looks like. This will lead to a closer consideration of what kinds of crimes men and women commit, and what the differences between them might be in this respect. We shall be drawing on official statistics and other secondary sources to construct this picture alongside empirical studies that have relied upon such sources of data. Consequently it will be valuable to consider some of the inherent weaknesses in the data sources on which this chapter is based.
