Race and Women in Crime: A Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Comparison of Arrests for Black and Latino Females with White Females

Jospeter M. Mbuba

Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

Abstract:

Although women have made tremendous gains on men in criminal involvement in the last few decades, their involvement remains largely neglected in research. Most scholars choose instead to explore criminal behavior by the general population, juveniles, and men. This trend has left a major scholastic gap that the current study seeks to fill. The study analyzed the pattern of Black, Latino, and White female arrests in a mid-sized city in the United States from January 2001 through December 2005. The data ascertained that like males, female minorities are disproportionately represented in the arrest statistics, but linear regression analyses revealed a statistically significant decline in the arrest rates for Black and Latino females, while the change in the arrest rate for White females did not show statistical significance over the same period of time. In addition, while economic crimes explained the largest percentage of arrests for minority females, White females were arrested more commonly for public order offenses.

Keyword:

Female Crime; Race; Latino Arrest; Black Arrest; White Arrest.