Women are believed to be more law-abiding than men. This belief is based upon the findings of sociologists’ research. Several factors can be regarded as predictors of stronger compliance with laws and social norms in women. The traditional gender roles are among the critical, influential factors that help to explain this assumption. Gender roles comprise attitudes and behaviors that are socially attributed to each of the genders through labeling.
For instance, the belief that a woman’s role in a family is to manage the household in terms of cooking, doing the laundry, and caring for children has been a part of traditional upbringing for a relatively long period. Therefore, taking the most significant part of responsibilities, women have no time and opportunities for participating in criminal activities. However, this explanation can be applied only to females accepting the traditional gender roles, which are considered outdated by many modern women.
Basically, according to these gender roles, a woman would be dependent upon her husband and spend a lot of time in the household. On the other hand, males are expected to be the primary breadwinners and have a certain family authority. For this reason, men were expected to spend more time outside their homes and be involved in a greater number of social interactions, and some of these interactions can be linked to the violation of laws. At the same time, since women are more based at home, they fear operating in ungodly hours or at night. Considering the fearfulness and inability to control emotions as traits that were traditionally attributed to women, it can be stated that the qualities required for deviating the norms are uncharacteristic of females.
Even in the modern community, with the rise of feminist theories, women are more likely to follow the rules and abide by the laws due to their inborn traits. Additionally, due to gender discrimination, women are underrepresented in politics and managerial positions and rarely have chances for committing more serious crimes. Regardless of all the efforts and success of feminist movements, the dominant role of men in the community is preserved. Modern women are influenced by the rise of feminism but still preserve their attitudes of doing things in the right ways.
Previously, sociologists used biological studies to explain why women are less likely to commit crimes. However, these claims have been criticized by modern sociologists focusing on the theories of deviance and labeling. It was believed that it was in female temperament to follow the rules and abide by the laws. However, modern sociologists claim that this was labeling and stereotyped gender roles that contributed to this tendency.
The gender ratio problem, which is referred to as the question of why women are less likely to commit crimes than their male counterparts, requires further research and a complex approach comprising the biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives.