Male and female incarceration rates in the USA

6 Comments / Law / By

The chart indicates that about fourteen adult males are incarcerated for every adult female who is.

Also, on lengths of sentences: “males received 12 percent longer prison terms than females after ‘controlling for the offense level, criminal history, district, and offense type.'”

Follow-up questions:

1. Do males collectively commit 14 times the number of crimes as females?
2. If so, do the statistics show a rough fairness in the justice system?
3. If so, why do males commit many more crimes? How much of it is due to biology, how much to socialization, how much to lifestyle choices?
4. Why do males receive 12% longer sentences?
5. What do these stats imply for our current “male privilege” debates?

On juveniles:

The male-to-female rate is much lower: approximately 7:1.
And over the past 20 years, the number of incarcerated juveniles has been reduced by over 50%.

Source: Wikipedia.

6 thoughts on “Male and female incarceration rates in the USA”

  1. Mrs. Dogood

    5. What do these stats imply for our current “male privilege” debates?

    That we haven’t reached our goal and we must divide into two more groups until we get the right answer. After which we will inevitably find that it is not ‘male privilege’ but a sub groups lack of privilege.

  2. Billy

    Are there other statistics available to either mitigate or strengthen the reasons for differences in incarceration rates? Things like the seriousness of the crimes committed, repeat offender status, number of crimes committed in one instance, etc. should also be under consideration prior to attempting to reason out why there is disparity.

  3. Stephen Hicks

    Billy: Yes, the source says those are controlled for in the calculations: “males received 12 percent longer prison terms than females after ‘controlling for the offense level, criminal history, district, and offense type.’”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *