NCJ Number
212305
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 30 Issue: 1 Dated: May 2005 Pages: 5-29
Date Published
May 2005
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This article explores the widely held belief that women and girls are becoming more violent.
Abstract
In just about every generation law enforcement officers, researchers, and the media have decried the increasing violence demonstrated by women and girls. Each generation claims that the violent criminality of females is worse than ever before. The authors examine this claim of increasing violence among women by examining, first, the sensational images of violent women offered by the media and researchers to prove their claims. This focus on a few unusually violent women obscures the reality of the aggregate statistics, which show that women are not becoming more violent. The research literature in this field is also examined as the authors point out that many of the studies suggesting an increase in violence among women have confused the definition of violence with that of aggression. Official crime statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey demonstrate that the proportion of women who commit violent crimes has not grown as significantly as many perceive. Finally, the authors argue that the myth of the increasingly violent female offender is harmful in that it conditions law enforcement and criminal justice system responses to female offenders, possibly creating a self-fulfilling prophesy. By treating female offenders more harshly, the criminal justice system may actually produce violent female offenders. Future research should focus on how criminal justice responses to female offenders may create changes in the number of females coming into contact with the criminal justice system. Figures, note, references