Analysis of the Number of Explanations for the Significant Growth in Research Paper

Analysis of the Number of Explanations for the Significant Growth in Female Imprisonment - Research Paper Example Crime has forever been a major problem for society at large. It has presented itself as a challenge to every authority and government in the world. Since historical times, sociologists and criminologists have been the principal contributors to crime research, which has led to an extensive research literature on the general topic of the role of incentives in the determination of criminal behavior. In this regard, a notable feature is an increase in crime among women. With approximately 52% of the population of UK being formed by women (in 2005 there were 30.7 million females compared with 29.5 million males in the UK population), male offenders outnumbered female offenders by more than four to one in 2006. Despite this fact, the irony is that today more women are locked up in England and Wales than in any EEA nation other than Ukraine and Spain. The number of women serving custodial sentences has increased substantially. Recent statistics indicate an increase of 30% in the female pris on population during 2001. Furthermore, various studies demonstrate a 15% increment in the number of women incarcerated between 2001 and 2002, compared to an increase of 6% for men3. This might lead one to believe that women are becoming more prone to committing crimes or according to Box (1983);4 there is a serious problem with the system that was so far seen to be lenient in prosecuting women offenders. Crime in Switzerland is also becoming a cause of major concern with a 27% climb in the rate of female crime, in the past five years5. With the support of well-documented theoretical explanations for women’s crime as well as accounts of early contributions portraying women as sexual beings the focus on women has been in the context of their supposed inferiority to men. This has, in turn, led to explanations that revolve around the sex role socialization, as well as the emergence of the women’s movement.  Ã‚