Women are less likely to commit violent crimes and usually commit crimes for others, not for personal benefit, according to a University crime expert.

Darrell Steffensmeier -- Penn State professor of sociology and one of the country's leading authorities on crime -- said women are less likely to commit crimes than men because of differences in moral development, social control, physical strength and crime opportunities.

"Femininity and the role of a female define the lives of women and their involvement in crime in a powerful kind of way," Steffensmeier said.

Marriage and parenthood are major life goals that are crucial in the socialization of females rather than males, and crime is incompatible with these roles, he said.

Lynne Goodstein, associate professor of administration of justice and women's studies, agreed that men and women are socialized into different cultures that expect certain forms of behavior.

"There are certain ways men and women are expected to act," she said. "Women focus on the welfare of others and tend to consider the needs of everyone."

Being feminine is also not associated with crime. But being criminal is very compatible with what it means to be masculine, Steffensmeier said.

Lack of aggressiveness and risk-taking limit a woman's ability to become involved in crime, he said. They may take risks in relationships, but not in exploiting the physical environment, he added.

"Women need a higher level of provocation, and they must traverse a greater psychological distance to commit a crime," he said.

Women are taught to be less violent and less risky, he added.

For crimes like public drunkenness, larceny and minor criminal mischief, the motives and number of each gender committing those crimes is the same, Steffensmeier added.

University Police Services Officer Chris Cihak said she deals with the same number of female and male offenders at the University, but the forms of crime differ.

"Men steal just as much as women, but the women are most likely to steal from other women in the dormitories," she said.

Women offenders at the University also use stolen checks or credit cards where the men are more likely to harass or make prank phone calls, Cihak said.

"In this area, most definitely the men are more violent in crimes," she said.

A large proportion of women who commit crimes are addicted to alcohol or drugs and often have children who rely on them for economic support, Goodstein said.

"Most of these women are subjects of victimization, like neglect or abuse," she said.

Organized forms of crime, like large-scale corporate crime, also tend to be overwhelmingly male-dominated, Steffensmeier said.

"This is one of the most glaring differences in crime," he added. "The constraints of women and fewer opportunities they have to commit crimes takes a greater push by women to be involved with crime."

When women want to break into male-dominated crime groups, they're frequently defined in terms of sex roles by playing a secondary role or acting as a sexual decoy, Steffensmeier said, adding that prostitution is the only female-dominated crime.

"Female crime is dominated by their involvement in sex-related crimes," he said. "Women can market sex in a way that men cannot."

Men and women tend to gravitate toward the crime that best fits their skills and provides the most money for the least amount of work, he added.

Shoplifting, minor larceny, employee theft and bad checks are among the most common female crimes, because women are more likely to shop and write checks, Steffensmeier said.