Too many men: the violence problem?

Finally, we review how crime is related to sex ratios, and find no consistent evidence in support of the ‘more men, more violence ’ view. The poor fit between sex ratio and population crime statistics suggests that new lines of evolutionary-ecological investigation, both theoretical and empirical, are needed to better understand the patterning of violence in human societies. Where does ‘more men, more violence ’ come from? The ‘more men, more violence ’ expectation derives from multiple sources. The first is simply mathematical. Given that most perpetrators and victims of violence are men, it Review TREE-1796; No. of Pages 9focusing here on violence in human societies. We first highlight recent reformulations within sexual selection theory that challenge our intuitions and generate predic