Sociologist John Hagans research on crime and
gender resulted in his formulation of what is known as power control theory. Under Hagans
purview, criminologists, sociologists, and others began to examine crime rates against a
backdrop of traditional or historical patterns of gender distinction. Specifically, males were
or are more likely to commit crimes because boys were afforded greater freedom to act outside of
the home than girls, who were more protected and whose mothers were relegated to household
responsibilities while men/fathers left the house every morning for jobs. The greater latitude
afforded boys provided far greater opportunity for risk and experimentation, which sometimes led
to criminal behavior.
So, the questionhow recent changes in American culture
would affect crime rates through the prism of power-control theorycan be examined as one in
which feminism and fundamental changes in family structure have caused downward trends in crime
rates. Power-control theory suggests that the liberation of girls and women has radically
increased their role in society at large and somehow precipitated a decrease in crime.
Women, according to Hagan, are less likely to commit most types of crime (petty theft
being one exception), so the increased presence of women in the workplace and in many social
environments has a depressive effect on rates of crime. Female empowerment has altered
perceptions of family structure, as men are expected to increase their participation in
household chores while women are freer to pursue outside interests, whether in sports,
education, or simply socializing.
The Hagan school of thought posits that
fundamental gender distinctions exist that directly affect crime rates. One could suggest,
however, that transformations in culture and family dynamics or structure are less determinative
of crime rates than other factors, such as poverty rates and quality of community policing. The
increased role of women in society may have little or nothing to do with crime rates. Changes in
American culture may or may not have affected crime rates, as low unemployment levels and other
macroeconomic indicators might be more important than the evolution in traditional gender
roles.
The basic point is that power-control theory may have little or much
to add to discussions of crime rates and patterns. Women commit crimes. Purview a county jail
roster and the currently incarcerated will include a fair number of individuals who identify as
female, especially when drug-related crimes are factored into the equation. Broader societal
transformations that may have little to do with gender distinctions and roles as well as
transformations in how societies view categories of crime might be more important.
A major problem with theories that purport to explain patterns of activity is that too
much emphasis tends to be placed on such theories at the expense of alternative explanations.
Almost always, transformations do not take place because of a single cause or explanation.
Multiple variables are usually involved. Power-control theory plays an important role in the
study of criminology, but so do other theories like those that posit causal relationships
between socioeconomic levels and crime or ethnicity and crime, the latter related to levels of
substance abuse as well as macroeconomic levels).
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