CRIMINOLOGY

Masculinity and its Relation with Criminal Activities

Masculinity and its relation with criminal activities

Introduction

There are different behaviours in a society which are particular to a race, religion, gender or community. These behaviours have a strong influence on society. Masculinity is a collection of attitude, behaviour and activities which are generally attributed to man. It is a behavioural process that has an immense influence on the social dealing of man. Physique and hormonal changes and the nature of psychology have a great impact on quality of masculinity. It is a typical “male” behaviour. The masculinity is a characteristic of man and represents the “man hood” in an individual. It is a characteristic of exercising authorities and attribute which are specified to male gender (Kahn 2009, pp.47-50). It is a gender centric behaviour. It is the quality of considering oneself as man and superior to others.

Masculinity is a behaviour which represents authority and domination. It is, sometimes, subjected to attention seeking. It is an attitude to generate influence and gain attention from the surrounding. The norms and behaviour related to masculinity may evoke negative attitude in the society. Masculinity may give rise to the stress, frustration, anger and violence in the society. The sense of being masculine induces aggression and violence. It evokes the person to dominate others and does not care for the limitations and obligations restricted by the society. Masculinity has a great impact on the psychology of man. The psychological, hormonal and physical changes affect the degree of masculinity (Cohn 2005, pp.01-04). Masculinity is a complex typical behaviour which is found all across the globe. It is not particular to any one society or country. Man exercises their authority throughout the world and cause significant influence on society.

Discussion

Concept of Masculinity

Masculinity is a typical male behaviour. It is subjected to the sense of being dominant and authoritative in nature on the basis of gender superiority. It is a specific behaviour belongs to male gender. It has exceptional influence on society because the concept of dominance gives rise to the idea of violence. The masculinity impacts society in both positive and negative ways. Masculinity enhances self confidence and determination in a man. It is a courageous behaviour which tends to allow a man to stop unlikely activities in his surroundings. Man uses his physical and behavioural power to bring change in the traditional society. Despite being victim, he takes the responsibility of his own as well as the surrounding. He defends the weak and helpless through his physical and moral support. These all were the positive behavioural aspects of masculinity. There are also some negative aspects of this behaviour.

With the continued exercise of power and show of anger increases the trend of violence in a society. It decreases the level of tolerance and demands immediate action against the unlikely act. Such behaviour is negative for a society and the citizens. Masculinity leads man towards criminal activities. Criminal activities are directly influenced by masculinities. Persons (1964) defined the relation of masculinities and involvement of ...