NCJ Number
56469
Editor(s)
F ADLER,
R J SIMON
Date Published
1979
Length
431 pages
Annotation
THIS TEXT PRESENTS A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON WOMEN IN CRIME, INCLUDING HISTORICAL MATERIAL ON CRIMINOLOGY OF WOMEN AND ARTICLES ON CRIMES WOMEN COMMIT, WOMEN IN COURT, AND WOMEN IN PRISON AND ON PAROLE.
Abstract
THE BOOK IS INTENDED FOR USE IN COURSES IN SOCIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, CRIMINOLOGY, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE; SELECTIONS REPRESENT DIFFERENT TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS--LAW REVIEWS, SOCIAL SCIENCE AND CRIMINOLOGY JOURNALS, AND MONOGRAPHS WITH MORE CLINICAL OR PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES. THE TEXT PRESENTS A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT WORKS THAT SHAPED THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE VIEW OF THE FEMALE OFFENDER AND ITS TREATMENT OF HER IN THE PAST. THEY INCLUDE AN ITALIAN STUDY OF THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF FEMALE OFFENDERS WRITTEN IN THE LATE 1800'S, A DUTCH STUDY FROM THE EARLY 1900'S WHICH ATTEMPTED TO MAKE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION OF WOMEN AND FEMALE CRIME, AND A 1934 U.S. CRIMINOLOGICAL STUDY WHICH VIEWED THE FEMALE OFFENDER IN LIGHT OF COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANTS. THE SECOND SECTION EXAMINES CRIMES WOMEN COMMIT. THESE ESSAYS INCLUDE SEVERAL STATISTICAL STUDIES OF TRENDS IN FEMALE CRIME AND EXCERPTS FROM LONGER WORKS ORGANIZED AROUND TYPES OF FEMALE CRIMES: VIOLENT, PROPERTY, AND VICTIMLESS CRIMES. AN ESSAY ON WOMEN AS TERRORISTS IS ALSO PROVIDED. THE SECTION FOCUSING ON WOMEN IN COURT REFLECTS THE THEME THREADING THROUGH MUCH OF THE LITERATURE ON THIS SUBJECT: DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF MALE AND FEMALE DEFENDANTS AND LITIGANTS IN THE COURTROOM. ARTICLES PRESENT STATISTICAL STUDIES OF SENTENCING AND DISCUSSIONS OF THE EFFECT THAT PASSAGE OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT WOULD BE ON COURTS' TREATMENT OF WOMEN. THE TEXT SECTION VIEWS THE FEMALE OFFENDER IN PRISON AND ON PAROLE. SELECTIONS CONSIDER LEGAL ISSUES, CHANGES IN STATUTES THAT WOULD ALTER CONDITIONS IN WOMEN'S PRISONS, AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST FEMALE PRISONERS. THERE IS GENERAL AGREEMENT IN THIS LITERATURE THAT WOMEN'S PRISONS, ALTHOUGH REPUTED TO BE MORE PLEASANT AND COMFORTABLE THAN MEN'S PRISONS, CAUSE GREATER HARDSHIP FOR INMATES DUE TO THE LACK OF INMATE PROGRAMS, SPECIAL RESTRICTIONS, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPRIVATIONS. FINALLY, THE TEXT TAKES A CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE OF FEMALE CRIMINOLOGY AND REPORTS ON THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN CRIME IN COUNTRIES WITH VARIOUS KINDS OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL DEVELOPMENT. AN INDEX, REFERENCES, AND EXTENSIVE NOTES ARE PROVIDED, AND EACH SECTION IS PREFACED BY AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. FOR SELECTED READINGS SEE NCJ 44675, 46545, AND 56470-56482. (DAG)