CJ 2000-Heimer (vol. 1)

One of the most persistent research findings in criminology is that men commit much more crime than women. This typically is referred to as the gender gap in offending. Many researchers have noted that during the past several decades, women and men have converged in their rates of crime and the gender gap in offending has narrowed. Several explanations of this convergence have been proposed, including the economic marginalization hypothesis, which argues that the gender gap in crime has narrowed because women have experienced increasing economic hardship relative to men. This article reviews research on changes over time in the relative crime of women and men. It presents an analysis of Uniform Crime Reports data on the gender gap in offending from 1960 to 1997 and concludes that there has been an appreciable narrowing of the gap over this period in both property and violent offenses. The article then assesses the evidence in the criminological literature regarding the possible reasons for these changes, including the economic marginalization hypothesis. It then reviews evidence from demographic and economic research regarding the increasing marginalization of women and concludes that changes in the gender gap in crime are consistent with the findings of this research. Finally, the article proposes avenues for extending and refining the economic marginalization perspective. THE NATURE OF CRIME: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE