Sex and crime
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- For crimes involving sexuality, see Sexual assault
People have long recognized a relationship among humans between biological sex and tendency to commit crime. Generally, men are on average more aggressive[citation needed] and much more likely than women to commit violent crimes. Men are also far more likely than women to be the victims of such crimes.
Even mild reductions in levels of the male hormone testosterone are associated with reduced outwardly direct anger. Dabbs et al. (1988) found a relationship between testosterone in women's saliva and their tendency to commit unprovoked crimes.
Men are much more likely to be incarcerated than women. In the USA nearly 9 times as many men (5,037,000) as women (581,000) had ever been incarcerated in a State or Federal prison at year end 2001. However, women are the fastest-growing demographic group in prison.
One study showed that women were more likely than men to deem certain behaviors that are criminal or sometimes considered unethical, such as inflating an insurance claim or using "cheap foreign labor", to be less acceptable (Fisher, 1999).
In another study conducted in the American city of Belleville Illinois - 100 identical wallets containing money and valuables were intentionally 'lost' in front of hidden cameras. In that particular study, the dishonesty rate for men was well over twice that of women:
Of the 51 females tested - 7 (14%) were dishonest and kept the wallets.
Of the 49 males tested - 19 (39%) were dishonest and kept the wallets.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Wallet Test study in human honesty conducted Sept 6th to Oct 6th, 2006. Test results published January, 2007 [2].
- Dabbs, J. M., Jr., Ruback, R. B., Frady, R. L., Hopper, C. H., & Sgoutas, D. S. (1988). Saliva testosterone and criminal violence among women. Personality and Individual Differences, 9, 269-275.
- Fisher, J. (1999). "Ethics Check". CMA Management Magazine, 36-37.
- Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population, 1974-2001
- Most victims and perpetrators in homicides are male U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics
[edit] External links
- Mild testosterone reduction effective against aggression?
- Aggressiveness, Criminality and Sex Drive by Race, Gender and Ethnicity
| Human group differences |
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| Race and intelligence | Sex and intelligence |
| Health and intelligence | Height and intelligence |
| Race and crime | Sex and crime |
| Race and health | Race and height |
