Overview of Arrest Trends in 2022

The chart shown above is built on data published by the FBI's Crime Data Explorer. As of March 2024, the data from 2022 is the latest available (for arrests). Most of us are well aware that male crime figures are higher than female crime figures, but let's take a moment to take a closer look into the history and studies behind these differences. Is this caused by economic conditions? Do law enforcement practices play a role? What causes this gender predisposition in crime?

Demographics of Arrests: Age and Gender

The year 2022 saw a total of 6,005,263 arrests across the United States, with a significant gender disparity: 72.2% were males (4,337,177 arrests) and 27.8% were females (1,668,086 arrests), according to the FBI's Crime Data Explorer (source). This statistic brings to light the ongoing conversation about gender roles and criminality. A closer look at the age distribution of these arrests reveals that the 30-34 age group accounted for the majority of arrests among both genders, marking a shift from 1985 when the 25-29 age group was most prevalent. This change suggests a trend towards later-life criminal activity, which could reflect broader societal shifts in life milestones and economic pressures. The data also unveils that the least number of arrests occur in the 'Under 10' age bracket, emphasizing the rarity but not the absence of childhood arrests. The nuances of this data are critical, especially in the 25 states without a specified minimum arrest age (source). The variation in state policies—such as Florida's minimum age of 7, Washington's of 8, and others at 10 or 11—impacts juvenile justice approaches (source). The controversial arrest of a 6-year-old girl in Florida in 2019 sparked national debate (source), highlighting ethical and legal complexities surrounding the criminal responsibility of children. These incidents raise critical questions about the appropriateness of the existing legal frameworks and the societal responsibility towards children.

Male Arrest Trends

The contrast in arrest rates between males and females remains a feature in crime statistics. However, the figures are indeed changing, slowly. Looking back at 1985, the FBI recorded a total of 1,844,325 female arrests and 9,150,288 male arrests; placing male arrests at 83.2%. Nearly 4 decades later, that figure has shrunk by a little over 10% to 72.2%. If this rate continues, the disparity in arrests between the two genders may disappear sometime early in the next century. Arrests overall have also fallen by 45% since the 80's, which is wonderful news for everyone.

Female Arrest Trends

In 1985, females accounted for 16.8% of all arrests, a figure that has incrementally risen to 27.8% nearly four decades later. This increase could be an indication of changes in law enforcement's focus, the nature of crime, and perhaps a closing of the gender gap in areas of crime typically dominated by males. I recommend this article by Nadia Campaniello from the University of Essex.

Female criminality, particularly in property crimes, has seen various trends over the years. Here are some simplified insights:

• In the 1970s, as more women entered the workforce, some studies suggested that this led to an increase in the opportunity to commit property crimes.
• Research from that era indicated that employed women were more likely to commit crimes than those not working.
• Contrarily, later studies in the 1990s showed that encouraging legal employment through welfare reform seemed to reduce property crimes among women.
• There's a discussion about the impact of wage inequality on crime, with some researchers believing that as the wage gap between skilled and unskilled women grew, so did the crime rate among women.

Gender Disparity

Peeking into the gap between gals and guys in arrest stats, we get a whole lot from digging into some smart folks' work on this. There's a couple of studies that really throw a spotlight on this tricky subject:

• First off, there's this deep dive in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency that puts the spotlight on this thing called General Strain Theory (GST). It's kinda like looking at why guys tend to get in more trouble with the law than ladies. The brainy heads behind this think it's all about the different pressures and mess-ups that men and women face, and how they deal with them. Boys and girls grow up different, right? And those differences sort of pave the way for how they might end up on the wrong side of the law (source).
• Then, there's this other piece in the Handbook on Crime and Deviance that's all about looking at crimes through pink and blue glasses, if you catch my drift. It takes a good hard look at who's doing what in Europe, who's getting caught, and how the courts are dealing with them. This bit gets really into the weeds on how being a man or a woman can kinda skew how you're treated when it comes to paying the piper for your crimes, touching on stuff like money problems and deep-seated court biases (source).

The gist of the first paper is all about the why's of more dudes getting nabbed by the cops than dudettes. It's like, the way society expects men and women to act and handle stress can lead to more men acting out. But don't think it's saying women don't get their hands dirty; it's just that when they do, it's often because they're up against a wall, with fewer chances to make something of themselves.

On the flip side, the second bit of research backs up the thought that women aren't as likely to get into trouble, but when they do, it's kinda shaded by how much dough they're rolling in, or not, and how folks see women's roles. Plus, it throws in a reminder that you've gotta mix in other stuff like race and class to really get the full picture of what's going down.

So yeah, mash all this together, and it's clear as mud that the whole man-woman thing in crime isn't just black and white. It's more about the big ol' mix of life stuff that either pushes or pulls folks in different directions.