In every society, there are approved ways of doing things, and approved manners of orderliness. Any departure from the approved norms is termed criminal behavior. For crime to occur there has to be an infringement of criminal code or code of a society. In my opinion, I believe crime is not normal but inevitable, without it there could be no social change and progress. Due to the innate nature of crime, every individual has tendency of committing it. Hence, it is inherent. Though there is no universal crime: it varies such that, what constitutes a crime in a situation, may not in another. It goes with dynamism of the society and varies from time to time.
There are lots of corrective measures put in place by the state through the law enforcement agencies, like prison, police, court etc to ensure that any breach of law is dealt with. Criminal laws contain provisions and to which penalties are attached. God created us evil and good. Every person has "id" and "ego". Some obey laws and some do not. One may not wish to steal, but when such person has no job, he may start from pilferage since he has to eat. Who commits crime? Taking a cursory look at this question, we may quickly conclude that crime is a social behavior committed only by males, forgetting that the females too constitute a significant threat to social order, according to a popular axiom "what a man can do, a woman can do better". In all ramifications, I opine.
Though the position of males mostly as breadwinners of the family, (especially if he is unemployed or his income cannot take him home), exposes them to this social decadence. There is every difference between the potential criminality of men and women. In Nigeria and other parts of the world, women no longer play their societal role of second fiddle. They engage in such activities in which men engage in order to make a living or to control the family, especially when the breadwinner is no more. Apart from that, the more liberated women are, the more crime they tend to commit. Women's liberation has brought out their competitive instincts, making them more assertive, more aggressive and generally more masculine.
This has apparently brought with it an increase in women's criminal activity, particularly in such crimes which are traditionally associated with men like violence and robbery. There have been cases where women led riots and even gangs of armed robbers. The fact is reports of women involved in criminal activities abound daily in the newspaper and may be captured as follows: "wife hacks husband to death" "house wife poisons husband" etc, in cases of child- abandonment that is becoming pandemic, women are the worst culprits.
Looking at the crime and punishment however, there seems to be preferential treatment on favor of female. Why? The reason is best known to the law enforcement agencies. Are women not involved in criminality? Are they saints? If no, let us put a definite end to the seeming preferential treatment and let the punishment for crime be applied equitably, without fear or favor. "What is good for the goose" they say, "is also good for the gander" because "what a man can do, a woman can do better".
