Offending Women

"Lynne Haney is already an important voice in the sociology of welfare but this book marks her debut as a major figure in the sociology of punishment and the study of governmentality. Offending Women is a fascinating work that combines rich ethnographic detail with a structural account of the changing contours of contemporary governance. Its original contributions to prison ethnography, women's studies, and the sociology of the penal-welfare state will make it a reference point in each of these disciplines."--David Garland, author of The Culture of Control "Offending Women is an exemplary piece of work. Haney's writing is engaging, crisp, and smart. She brilliantly assesses the various intentions of the state and incarcerated women and clarifies how these intentions are based on orientations toward punishment and 'healing' that demand fundamental rethinking."--Rickie Solinger, author of Pregnancy and Power and co-editor of Interrupted Life: Experiences of Incarcerated Women in the United States "Lynne Haney brings together her stupendous skills as an ethnographer and her theoretical insights into how states work to explain how the treatment of imprisoned women has changed over the past decade. An altogether brilliant book."--Myra Marx Ferree, University of Wisconsin

Offending Women provides an interesting and useful theoretical analysis of the discourse surrounding women's deviancy.

Presenting research that will underpin effective practice with women who offend, this unique and thought-provoking text aims to help professionals meet the needs of this group as well as providing a theoretical resource for policy makers and academics. The authors, coming from a variety of professional and research perspectives, discuss important issues concerning women in the criminal justice system, including: * the increase in custodial sentences for women * black women in prison * patterns of female offending * drug use and the criminal justice system * the needs of women on release from prison. Calling into question the relevance to female offenders of research conducted with men who commit crime, the contributors provide a comprehensive knowledge base on women and crime for professionals who work in this area. With a broad range of contributions, this book will be helpful to probation officers, social workers, policy makers and others who work with female offenders.

Until recently, gender stereotypes have shaped the ways in which society views female offenders, often as individuals incapable of criminal activity or extreme violence. When Women Offend: Crime and the Female Perpetrator sheds light on the complex world of female offending, demonstrating women's capability to behave aggressively and violate gender expectations. This title features excerpts of interviews with incarcerated women, as well as links to full audio recordings of each interview. The interviews are available to all readers, regardless of the format they select, and provide them with a unique and intimate lens into the experiences of female offenders relayed in their own words. Readers learn about the influence of gender stereotypes on perceptions of female offending, as well as about common myths associated with female deviance. They are introduced to criminological theory and explore psychological, developmental, sociological, and biological theories through a feminist lens. Dedicated chapters outline various types of female offending, from serial killing to Munchausen by proxy, filicide to sex offending, domestic homicide to terrorism, and more. Each of these chapters includes real-life cases and an exploration of motives and social factors. When Women Offend is ideal for courses in criminology and criminological theory, especially those focused on the female offender.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, panic about girls’ offending in Britain reached fever pitch. No longer sugar and spice, a ‘new breed’ of girl, the hedonistic, violent, binge-drinking ‘ladette’, was reported to have emerged. At the same time, the number of young women entering the youth justice system, including youth custody, increased dramatically. Offending Girls challenges simplistic and demonising popular representations of 'bad' girls and examines what exactly is new about the ‘new’ offending girl. In the light of enormous social and cultural changes affecting girls’ lives, and expectations of them, since previous British research in this area, the book investigates whether popular stereotypes problematising female youthful behaviour resonate with the accounts of criminalised young women themselves, and to what extent they have infiltrated professional youth justice discourse. Through the lens of original detailed qualitative research in two Youth Offending Teams and a Secure Training Centre – the first study of its kind since the 'modernisation' of the youth justice system over a decade ago – Offending Girls questions whether the ‘new’ youth justice system is delivering justice for girls and young women. It also contends that the panic about an ‘unprecedented crime wave’ amongst girls is not supported by robust evidence, but that the interventionist thrust which characterises contemporary youth justice has had a particularly pernicious impact on girls. It will be key reading for students and academics working in the areas of criminology, criminal and youth justice, education, gender studies, youth studies, social work, sociology and social policy, as well as youth and criminal justice practitioners and policy-makers.

A useful theoretical analysis of the discourse surrounding women's deviancy. Based on hundreds of interviews with magistrates, solicitors, psychiatrists, probabtion officers, and particularly female lawbreakers themselves this book is key for those studying criminology and women's studies as well as for practitioners.

Through an empirical inquiry into three categories of offending women, Offending Women in Contemporary China: Gender and Pathways into Crime explores the socioeconomic conditions that facilitate womens' pathways into crime, and examines the interplay between gender, class, rapid social changes and female law-breaking in neoliberal China.