![Sample our Law journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5942/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Law.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
One possible explanation for the gender distribution of white-collar offending may be gender related differences in criminal thinking styles. This paper uses the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) to compare women and men convicted of white-collar type crimes on eight different thinking styles and three summary scales. The results showed that both women and men convicted of white-collar type crimes had low criminal thinking scores on the PICTS. On some styles, women scored higher than men, but the differences were small. Regression analyses found that after controlling for other factors gender predicted proactive, reactive, and general criminal thinking: on average women scored higher than men on all three scales. However, the results also showed that measures of risk and needs were stronger predictors of criminal thinking than gender. Recommendations for future research and policy to address gender similarities and differences among people convicted of white-collar type offenses are discussed.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the Administrative Office of the United States Courts for making their data available for this study. The views and opinions here are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. The results for the seven individual thinking styles are available on request.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Michael L. Benson
Michael L. Benson is a Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati.
Erin Harbinson
Erin Harbinson is a Research Scholar the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota Law School.