دیدگاه های عمومی نسبت به سیاست های جرم و جنایت و تادیبی: آیا یک شکاف جنسیتی وجود دارد؟

Differences between men and women in their proximity to crime, moral development, and attitudes toward an array of social issues suggest that a gender gap in crime views may exist. Investigations of this possibility, however, are in short supply. Using a statewide data set and a variety of global and specific questions about crime policy, punishment, and rehabilitation, this study found that men and women tend to hold moderately divergent views. Women tend to express greater support for offender treatment and less support for punishment than men. Implications of these results for the future of correctional and crime policy are discussed.

For more than six decades, political scientists have devoted considerable attention to differences between men and women in policy preferences and voting behavior. Even greater efforts have been made to understand gender differences since the 1980 presidential election. In fact, it has become commonplace to refer to a “gender gap” in citizens' candidate choices and preferences for social policies (Borquez, Goldenberg, & Kahn, 1988). Substantially less attention has been focused on possible differences between men's and women's views on crime and corrections. Despite salient theoretical perspectives that might be applied, only a few studies have explored male–female differences in crime attitudes. This is not to say that gender has been completely absent from research on crime opinions. Gender simply has not been a focal issue in most examinations of attitudes toward crime policies, punishment, and offender rehabilitation. This study sought to provide greater insight into gender differences by investigating, in a single analysis, men's and women's views across several aspects of crime policy and correctional policy.