NCJ Number
95194
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 12 Issue: 5 Dated: (1984) Pages: 483-492
Date Published
1984
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The current appeal of the topic of women and crime has yielded an increasing volume of research illuminating the nature of female criminality. However, preoccupation with the dimensions of offense patterns has often diverted attention away from the kind of detailed study needed to specify the central social parameters of the female offender.
Abstract
The following article attempts to move toward filling this void by using arrest data, gathered in a city in the southern United States from 1969-1975, to evolve a descriptive profile of the female offender: she is young, black, poorly educated, occupationally unskilled or unemployed, unmarried, and often free of dependents. It is further suggested that a descriptive methodological approach may create the opportunity for new theoretical advances in understanding the origins of female criminality. (Author abstract)