The Criminality Of Women

The author tries to demonstrate that we have little choice but to accept the conclusion that the numerical sex differential in crime as visualized in the past is a myth.

The second edition of Women and Crime is a carefully revised version of what has become the standard text on this subject. It provides a comprehensive review of findings about female criminality, women and criminal justice, and the treatment of female offenders. It also offers a clear analysis of theoretical perspectives, of images of deviant women and women's experiences of social control. A new section reviews developments during the past decade and outlines the shifts in social research and crime concerns. The bibliography has been thoroughly revised and updated.

Places female criminality within its everyday context, bringing together the most current research on crime and gender.

This book compiles research on female crime and delinquency in Portugal in order to critically and reflectively explore interdisciplinary views on the link between gender, crime and delinquency. Contributions are organized into two main parts, with Part I dedicated to the relationship between women and crime, and Part II focused on female juvenile delinquency. Through the exploration of girls’ and women’s relationships with delinquency and crime, as well as with the justice system, this original and compelling collection highlights the heterogeneity of girls’ and women's experiences, whilst also underlining the convergences and divergences between them. Ultimately, Gomes and Duarte argue that understanding how women and girls explain their offending behaviours and how they relate to the criminal justice system is of the utmost importance for reforming social and legal policies. As such, this book will be of value not only for students, researchers and professionals of the social, behavioural and criminal sciences, but also for policy-makers seeking to provide greater efficiency in preventing crime and delinquency.

This is the first book to study the role coercion plays as a pathway into crime for women who are arrested alongside other defendants. Drawing on court files and newspaper accounts, it analyzes four cases of women who were arrested alongside a partner and who argued in their defense that they had been coerced. Charlotte Barlow examines these cases from a feminist perspective that allows her to highlight the importance of gender expectations and gendered discourse in both the trials themselves and the way the media covered them.

In the United States female crime has grown at a faster rate than male crime over the past couple of decades. Despite this, only limited research has been done by criminologists, psychologists and sociologists on this growing problem. This study examines female criminals; who they are, where they come from, what crimes they commit, why they commit criminal and delinquent acts, and how they are incarcerated. Part One discusses the extent and nature of female crime in the United States, and compares it to male crime. Part Two looks at early theories on the topic. Part Three explores the criminality and deviance of women offenders, while Part Four concentrates on the crimes and delinquency of juveniles. The work concludes with a discussion of female offenders in the custody of correctional authorities.

First published in 1977, Women, Crime and Criminology presents a feminist critique of classical and contemporary theories of female criminality. It addresses the issue that criminology literature has, throughout history, been predominantly male-oriented, always treating female criminality as marginal to the 'proper' study of crime in society. Carol Smart explores a new direction in criminology, and the sociology of deviance, by investigating female crime from a committed feminist position. Examining the types of offences committed by female offenders, Smart points to the fallacies inherent in a reliance on official statistics and shows the deficiencies of the popular argument that female emancipation has caused an increase in female crime rates. She deals with studies of prostitution and rape and considers the treatment of women - as offenders and victims - by the criminal law, the police and courts, and the penal system. Particular attention is given to the question of lenient treatment for female offenders with the conclusion that women and girls are, in some important instances, actually discriminated against in our legal and penal systems. The relationship between female criminality and mental illness is discussed and the author concludes by dealing with some of the problems inherent in developing a feminist criminology.

The Female Offender challenges the long-standing tradition of male dominated criminology theory and research, which has taken little or no account of gender differences.