Sociology

Many theories have been offered in an attempt to explore the escalating number of female arrests in the United States. The reasons behind the closing of the gap between men and women arrests have been illusive to many theorists. Some theorists argue that the increase of women arrests as a result of the war on drugs can be best explained with theoretical perspectives of female offending as the basic cause of increased crimes committed by women. This paper examines the war on drugs on the perspective of the reasons behind the increase in arrests of women and the impacts in has on them.
The mostly quoted explanation for the increase in female arrests is liberation. This theory argues that the failure of women to achieve gender equality has forced them into crime. In addition, as both men and women have gained almost equal status socially and economically, their involvement in crime has not been left behind either. Another explanation that has been put forth is that most women have been left husbandless since most men are jailed as a result of the war. This increases the vulnerability of women to crime (Merolla, 2008).

The increase in female arrests as a result of the war on drugs can also be explained on the basis of chivalry theory. The argument behind this theory is that women were traditionally treated with chivalry by the criminal justice system. Nevertheless, with women increasingly gaining parity with men in terms of social and economic status, the modern justice system has began treating both men and women equally (Merolla, 2008).

The war on drugs has had drastic effects on women. Women offending have been found to match the rate of male offending in drug use crime. It is obvious therefore that as the priority of the criminal justice system and the law enforcement agencies become more attracted to eradicating drug abuse, the vulnerability of women to arrests is expected to rise. Legislative side of this war has been particularly detrimental to women. In particular, conspiracy laws have been employed by the criminal justice system in prosecuting women on the basis of involvement with a dug baron in a love a fair. This law has been used by the law enforcement agencies to force women into revealing secret information and being used as state evidence for fear of sentencing. This law has impacted women negatively and unfairly since many of the firms that have been used by the drug dealers to execute their crime have been spared only for the women to be accused because of the involvement of their spouses or sons. The war on drugs has increased the arrests of women based on their race and economic status. In particular, the tendency of prosecuting pregnant women has encouraged this practice. New legislations have made it compulsory for women to undergo drug tests at birth on suspicion of drug use. These laws have had a racial dimension since the poverty stricken minority women have a higher likelihood of being suspected (Merolla, 2008).

Not a single theory can be used to explain the reasons behind the increase of female arrests as a result of drug abuse. This is because the behavior of the criminal justice system with regards to women is dependent on the offense. The attention that has been accorded to the image of crime and criminal behavior by the media is particularly attributed to drug abuse. Additionally, the problem of drug abuse has been treated as a social phenomenon by the media and this has had an effect of increasing the vulnerability of women to arrests (Merolla, 2008). In conclusion, the new laws and the perception of drug use as a social phenomenon have led to the increase of female arrests as a result of drug abuse. This partly explains the narrowing gender gap of arrests, notwithstanding the offending behavior of women.