Learning Objectives

  • An overview of the involvement of men and boys in crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour.
  • An account of the response of the criminal justice system to male offenders.
  • An assessment of the reasons why boys and men are more likely to offend than girls and women.
  • A summary of the main theoretical approaches developed to understand the relationship between masculinity and crime, including structural, psychosocial and discursive schools of thought.
  • An analysis of the applicability of a human rights agenda in relation to men. It is argued that men may be beneficiaries of a rights-based agenda with reference to the over-policing of marginal men. By contrast it is suggested that the violent behaviours of men inhibit the human rights of their victims.