A Gender Perspective on Corruption: The Case of Building Permits

Abstract

The dominance of males in virtually all forms of crime is one of the most well established empirical regularities in criminology. The gender gap in crime, however, is not uniform, that is, it varies over offense type. Men dominate in the commission of direct contact predatory street crime involving violence, such as murder and robbery, while women commit a somewhat larger share of minor property crime types such as shoplifting. The gender gap in crime extends to white-collar crime. Proposed reasons for gender differences in white-collar crime include lack of opportunity and risk aversion among women. As it does with street crime, the gender gap in white collar crime varies over different types of It came as a surprise that a female officer in the building permits department in the city of Drammen in Norway was detected for corruption. She confessed having received bribes from a number of builders. When applying convenience theory, gender theory as well at the gender model, however, it comes as no surprise that also women are involved in corruption. The lack of detection is linked to the lack of suspicion against female managers.