The Female Gender Perpetrators of Violent Crimes

PERPETRATORS OF VIOLENT CRIMES

The Female Gender as Perpetrators of Violent Crimes

This topic has been selected from table 33 from the FBI website on the arrest trends in 2019. According to the FBI report, violent crimes comprise rape, aggravated assault, robbery, and non-negligent manslaughter and murder. According to one report, a total of 62,053 women above 18 years were charged with violent crimes, while 5,572 females below 18 years were charged with the same in 2019.

I selected this topic because it is a unique occurrence. For the longest time, the male gender has been perceived to be the perpetrators of violent crimes like murder. Ideally, the female is not built for such crimes. However, statistics have brought out a view contrary to this prior common belief over the last few years.

There have been rising cases of women being charged and convicted in some of the crimes mentioned above. Many agree with the theory that men perpetrators of criminal offenses are higher in numbers than women. However, with the increasing trend in crimes perpetrated by women, one might question a time will come when both genders will be on the same level as far as a criminal offense is concerned.

It is known that males are the most criminal, and their driving power is based on the patriarchal system, but females' percentage is also rising. However, not much is known about the gender gap trends and the reasons for criminal behavior. The economic literature exploring gender conjunction in the labor market has failed to investigate female participation in the crime arena properly. To fight crime effectively, there is a need to analyze this gap in the crime arena to understand its evolution by identifying its main determining factors.

Why Women are Increasingly Becoming Violent Crime Offenders

Several literature reviews have analyzed the cause of females' increase as perpetrators of violent crimes and criminal offenses in its entirety. However, many studies have focused on men, so understanding why women commit crimes has become a severe shortcoming. One theory that tries to explain violence by women proposes and maintains that women's root of criminal violence is oppressive experiences and victimization unleashed upon them. From a social standpoint, violent crimes committed by females are mainly a result of their personal feelings and attachment and are tied to their female roles as wives, lovers, and mothers.

Women as mothers endure traumatic experiences that stem from violence against their children, something that might trigger shame or embarrassment because their role as mothers to protect their children has been compromised. The trauma is sometimes bad that they unleash their anger onto the children who are the subordinates within the family hierarchy. They develop the need to consolidate their power in a world governed by patriarchy. This coupled with the traumatic experiences they witness while growing up, affects the children even when they become adults. This is another reason why some adult females unleash violence from their experiences as children (Dekel, Abrahams & Andipatin, 2019).

Some women who have been charged and convicted of violent crimes like murder have resulted from the physical abuse inflicted on them and the psychological trauma that comes with it. Most of them have committed such offenses to become free of the physical and emotional abuse from the perpetrators, who include their partners (Dekel, Abrahams & Andipatin, 2019).