‘Gender’ and general strain theory: investigating the impact of gender socialization on young women’s criminal outcomes

Abstract

The gender gap in crime is one of the most highly researched issues in criminology. Despite women’s consistently low representation across all crime statistics, general theories of crime are commonly utilized to understand women’s pathways to offending without acknowledging their distinct lived experiences. Broidy and Agnew’s gendered general strain (GGST) attempts to bring gender forefront within a general strain theory framework by outlining the differences in experiences and responses to strain between women and men. An underlying assumption of GGST, however, remains under-examined – the role of gender socialization. This study investigates the influence of gender socialization on criminal outcomes for young women. We address a central overarching research question: does the degree of internalized gender norms – either heteronormative femininity or masculinity – influence young women’s experiences or responses to strain as well as their likelihood of engaging in illegal behaviors? Using a sample of female college students, we find internalized gender norms – either being more traditionally feminine or more traditionally masculine – condition experiences and responses to strain in distinct ways. Our findings highlight the need to explore the differential impacts of gender identity and internalized gender norms. Implications for theory and research are discussed.