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Gender Disparities In Violent Offenders

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Violent offenders are readily one of the most interesting topics of criminal justice. In 2015, blank percent of crime was accounted for by homicide, robbery, assault, and more. Research on violent offenders typically focuses on male offenders, however, emerging research has focused more on violent female offenders. A small amount of studies that have examined violent offenders using an intersectional approach have found that offenders often differ in their acts based on gender, race, class, and other structural factors (Bernard, 2013; Potter, 2013; Baskin & Sommers, 1993; Miller, 1998 add more). These differences could be due to various elements and constructs; however, it is something to further explore as they can relate back to systems of inequality. …show more content…

Social constructs help shape identities, which in return can affect how one commits a crime. Doing gender is an act where an individual follows the gender norms that their society has established. In American society, men are often reinforced to be aggressive and not show emotions, when complying to this they are “doing gender” (West & Zimmerman). One could argue, as some researchers have, this construct is often carried out in crime (Miller, 1998). In return, this could potentially account for some differences and disparities in violent crime, such as men representing majority of violent offenses in the U.S. (UCR, 2017). Similarly doing identity, also accounts for differences in groups, but incorporates race. Meaning, one follows norms that their society has established based on their race, to move through power structures (Bernard, 2013). These are necessary concepts to consider when looking at how different identities represent involvement in violent

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