NCJ Number
85489
Date Published
1982
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study explores the level of female crime, types of such crimes, changes in female crime patterns, characteristics of female criminal behavior, victim and police reactions to female crime, and the relationship between sex and crime.
Abstract
Data for this study were obtained from both official and unofficial statistics. Data consistently indicate that males commit much more crime than females; however, females are involved in the same broad range of crimes in which males are involved. The theory that female offenders act primarily as accomplices of males is not supported, since many female offenders acted alone or in cooperation with other females. Females were not as likely as males to use a weapon in a property crime, and when females did not use weapons in a crime, they were more likely to use a stabbing instrument than were males. Except for homicide, females did not tend to choose male victims. Victimization data indicate that the more serious crimes committed by female offenders are likely to be reported to the police and that males rather than females are more likely to report being victimized by a female. Explanations of female crime are only beginning to be tested. Not much of a link has been found between feminism and an increase in female crime. Some studies cast doubt on the opportunity theory, which maintains that women are committing more crimes because of their increased involvement in businesses that handle money and valuable items. Trends of interpretation, however, are away from psychological explanations of female crime toward socio-structural explanations. Prospects for future research are discussed, and 65 notes are listed.