This document discusses theories around why most crime is committed by males. It summarizes the work of criminologists Maureen Cain, Bob Connell, and James Messerschmidt who link crime to concepts of masculinity and gender roles. Specifically, they argue that there is a dominant and idealized form of masculinity (hegemonic masculinity) that some males feel pressure to achieve through actions like paid work, subordinating women, and demonstrating an uncontrollable sex drive. For some males, especially those lacking other resources, crime and deviance may be ways to accomplish this ideal form of masculinity and prove themselves as men. The theories are criticized for being circular, overpredicting crime, and potentially overgeneralizing

1. Explaining Male Crime: Male Roles and Masculinity
BIG QUESTION: Why is most crime male crime?
Maureen Cain noted in 1989 that the most significant thing about crime was not that most criminals seem to be working class it
was the fact that most criminals are and always have been male. Therefore criminologists need to ask what it is about being
male that leads men to offend. This feminist idea linked with postmodern thinking influenced the work of Bob Connell and
James Messerschmidt
Bob Connell (1995) – there are a number of different forms of masculinity which change over time. There is always a
HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY – the dominant form of masculinity males aspire to.
WE ARE MENWE ARE YOUNG MEN. WE HAVE AN IDEA OF THE
WAY WE SHOULD BEHAVE AS MALES IN SOCIETY.
THESE ARE CALLED GENDER SCRIPTS. OUR GENDER
SCRIPTS ARE VERY DIFFERENT TO THE GENDER
SCRIPTS OF WOMEN.
CONNELL (1995) HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY =the
socially approved idea of what masculinity is.
It is so PRIZED that that men struggle to live up to its
expectations..
This masculinity is not something natural but is
something that males achieve as an ‘accomplishment’
and is constantly being worked at and demonstrated to
others.
More powerful males will achieve their masculinity in
different ways and contexts from less powerful males.
MESSERSCHMIDT (1993) sees
HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY
asthe most prestigious and
dominant form that most
men wish to accomplish. He
defines it as
“…paid work, subordination of
women, difference from and
desire for women, uncontrollable
sex drive”
MESSERSCHMIDT)1993)argues, like Connell, that
masculinity is not something natural but an
accomplishment which constantly needs to be
worked at and presented to others. However
some men have more resources than others to
draw on. There are different masculinities in
society but the dominant most prized one he calls
hegemonicmasculinity. Some men have
subordinated masculinities, gay men for example
may have no desire to accomplish hegemonic
masculinity, while lower class and some ethnic
minority men lack the resources to accomplish
hegemonic masculinity.
Crime and deviance are resources that different
men use to accomplishthis masculinity. Class and
ethnic differences lead to different forms of rule
breaking to demonstrate masculinity:
1 WHITE MIDDLE CLASS YOUTHS
Have to subordinate themselves to teachers in
order to achieve middle class status
(accommodating masculinity in school). Outside
school their masculinity takes an oppositional
form e.g. binge drinking, pranks, vandalism..
2 WHITE WORKING CLASS YOUTHS
Fail more in school so their masculinity is
oppositional both in and out of school.
Constructed around sexist attitudes, tough stance
and challenging authority. Lads in Willis’s 1977
study illustrate this well.
3 BLACK LOWER WORKING CLASS YOUTHS
May have low career expectations and use gang
membership and violence to express their
masculinity
4 MIDDLE CLASS MEN
Commit white-collar and corporate crime to
accomplish hegemonic masculinity
SO IT IS THE ATTEMPT TO REACH MASCULINITY THAT
LEADS SOME MEN TO COMMIT CRIME However he
has been criticised. How? (A02)
1 Circular argument: masculinity explains male
crimes because they are crimes committed by males
2 Overpredicts crime. For example why do only
some, not all men, feel the need to assert
masculinity through crime?
3 He uses the idea of masculinity to explain all crimes
from embezzlement to joy riding. Isthis stretching it
too far?