Is Chivalry Dead

* * * An apparent decrease in differences between the sexes in criminal behavior and law enforcement outcomes has been attributed to changes in attitudes toward sex roles and increasing female labor force participation. The research reported here addresses two related questions in this area: (1) Have there been changes over time in sex differences in the disposition of police contacts with juveniles and adults? and (2) Do any observed changes account for increases in the female crime rate? Our analysis of data from 10,723 police contacts in a mid-western city during the period 1948–1976 found a trend toward a diminished sex difference in police dispositions of juvenile and adult misdemeanors and adult felonies. There was no evidence for a similar trend for juvenile status offenses or juvenile felonies. The findings also suggest that part of the apparent increase in female crime may be due to changes in official reactions to female offenders.

[1]  N. Shover,et al.  GENDER ROLES AND FEMALE CRIMINALITY Some Critical Comments , 1977 .

[2]  Pierre H. Landry,et al.  Gender Bias in Juvenile Justice , 1981 .

[3]  L. Wells,et al.  Arrest Probabilities for Marijuana Users as Indicators of Selective Law Enforcement , 1977, American Journal of Sociology.

[4]  S. Nagel,et al.  Women as Litigants , 1971 .

[5]  D. Steffensmeier.  Sex Differences in Patterns of Adult Crime, 1965–77: A Review and Assessment , 1980 .

[6]  A. Cherlin,et al.  Trends in United States Men's and Women's Sex-Role Attitudes: 1972 to 1978. , 1981 .

[7]  Stephen A. Cernkovich,et al.  A Comparative Analysis of Male and Female Delinquency , 1978 .

[8]  D. Steffensmeier.  Crime and the Contemporary Woman: An Analysis of Changing Levels of Female Property Crime, 1960–75 , 1978 .

[9]  I. Piliavin,et al.  Police Encounters With Juveniles , 1964, American Journal of Sociology.

[10]  Meda Chesney‐Lind.  Judicial Paternalism and the Female Status Offender , 1977 .

[11]  Christine E. Bose,et al.  THE SERIOUSNESS OF CRIMES: NORMATIVE STRUCTURE AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES* , 1974 .

[12]  S. Arber,et al.  Change in u.s. women's sex-role attitudes, 1964-1974. , 1976, American sociological review.

[13]  Christy A. Visher,et al.  Sex and Involvement in Deviance/Crime: A Quantitative Review of the Empirical Literature , 1980 .

[14]  The Forgotten Female Offender , 1977 .

[15]  L. Defleur.  Biasing influences on drug arrest records: implications for deviance research. , 1975, American sociological review.

[16]  A. Gillis,et al.  The sexual stratification of social control: a gender-based perspective on crime and delinquency. , 1979, The British journal of sociology.

[17]  Richard E. Sykes,et al.  Police Control of Juveniles , 1978 .

[18]  R. M. Terry.  Discrimination in the Handling of Juvenile Offenders by Social-Control Agencies , 1967 .

[19]  A. Reiss,,et al.  Police control of juveniles. , 1970, American sociological review.