The Rational Choice Is the Easiest One The Effect of Sex on Weapons Used in Homicide

The purpose of this study is to examine how sex influences the physical demandof weapons used in homicide. The study focuses on two research questions using data from Newark, New Jersey: (1) Does sex influence the use of a weapon that is more or less physically demanding to commit homicide? and (2) Does the sex dyad of the offender and victim influence using a weapon that is more or less physically demanding? The descriptive analysis shows significant relationships between the sex dyad of the offender and victim in homicide and the level of physical demand used to perpetrate homicide. The logistic multinomial regression analysis shows suspect sex and suspect and victim sex dyads significantly predict the physical demand of the weapons used to perpetrate homicide compared to those who utilized weapons of low physical demand. The results support the need to challenge traditional perspectives regarding the role of sex in criminal decision-making and seek to integrate more intersectional and gendered explanations into neoclassical theories of criminal behavior. Theoretical implications and future avenues of research are also discussed.