Domestic Abuse

Introduction

This essay will look at relationship between gender and violent crime. It will also look at the contributory reason why there is a significant difference in the ratio of crimes to each perspective gender and the attributor's factors. At least five areas of life tend not only to inhibit female crime and encourage male crime, but also to shape the patterns of female offending that do occur: gender norms, moral development and affiliative concerns, social control, physical strength and aggression, and sexuality. These five areas overlap and mutually reinforce one another and, in turn, condition gender differences in criminal opportunities, motives, and contexts of offending. Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault. Violent crime is undertaken when one uses his aggression to create extreme harm to a group or individual for the purpose of personal satisfaction.crime rates haveconsistently shown higher rates of offending for males than for females.

Economical factor: , economical factors that interfere with his/her lifestyle such as poverty can lead to theft.areas with high levels of poverty tended to have significantly higher levels of violent crimes

Studies have consistently shown higher rates of offending for males than for females, and especially

higher rates of violence. Gender differences in the development of social cognition may help to explain

gender differences in crime and violence. How an individual ultimately responds to a stressful life

event or risk factor depends on how that event is perceived, which, in turn, depends on an individual's

cognitive processes. Social information-processing skills allow individuals to encode information,

interpret and consider risks and benefits of a particular action, and determine an appropriate response

Women and men both commit, and are victims of, crimes but their perspectives, understandings and interpretations of crime are very much different. Men and women also commit violence but their motivations are likely to be different; men may do so to assert their dominance over a situation, a territory, or person; to ensure that their masculinity is not in doubt. Women are statistically less likely to execute crimes, particularly crimes of violence. Women had to care for their homes and families; opportunities for women to offend were minimal in that they had limited access to places which would allow them to commit crime due to family responsibilities.

Social factor

Females are less likely to commit crime because they have stronger social bonds and are subjected to greater supervision from parent and also greater social Control.

Biological factors

Male and female brains have a similar capability on most tasks, but variations in the organization of brain functioning may lead to different information dispensation strategies (Caplan &Caplan, 1997; Richardson, 1997)The Genetics and the natal environment in uterus provide the foundation for gender differences in early brain Morphology, physiology, chemistry, and nervous system development. The human brain is either masculinised or feminized structurally and chemically before birth (Fishbein, 1992; Taylor, 1985). Females tend to make use of both the right and left sides of the brain when completing imaging tasks, while males tend to use only areas on the left side (Ariniello, 1998).The Cortical functions in males are more lateralized, while females tend to have superior inter-hemispheric contact (McGlone, 1980). Females also acquire more neurophil than males do (American Academy of Neurology, 1999). This fibular tissue enables. Bennett et al. / Aggression and Violent Behavior 10 (2005) 263-288 273 neurons to communicate with numerous other nerve cells and may facilitate greater inter-hemispheric communication. The corpus callosum, which acts as a bridge for inter-hemispheric communication, is larger and longer overall in females (Gross, 1996). This Increased Communication between the neurons of the two hemispheres leads to increased cooperation between the two hemispheres. The active cooperation between the two hemispheres is vital to effective performance on complex mental tasks such as social reasoning and perspective taking ( Caplan, MacPherson, and Tobin (1985) . This increased Connectedness of the hemispheres of the female brain could lead to better social cognitive

Processing of females. The majority of females gain social cognitive skills much earlier

In life and consequently having superior skills earlier .This prosocial cognitive skills may

Result from fewer neurodevelopment disorders and a greater emphasis in socialization

On empathy, role and perspective taking, social reasoning, and social problem-solving

skills. The Neurological and behavioural development of one go hand in hand because, without the necessary neural mechanisms, cognitive ability would not be possible (Rosser, 1994).

The Brain structure and genetic factors is responsible for a variety of cognitive processing abilities, which eventually influence an individual conduct. These Executive cognitive functions, such as attention, motivation, self-control, and emotional and behavioural inhibitions, are located in the frontal lobes of the brain (Barkley, 1998; Castellanos, 1997; National Institute of Mental Health, 1996). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental deficit in brain circuitry which can contribute to violent crime as it enhances problematic behaviour. Males are three to five times more likely to develop ADHD than females (Barkley,1998).Males are also10 times more likely to be afflicted with severe developmental dyslexia . (Hyde & McKinley, 1997). Males also suffered more than females from a variety of neuro-developmental disorders because they are more vulnerable genetically