NCJ Number
92648
Date Published
1984
Length
337 pages
Annotation
Adolescent and adult female offenders have received differential treatment by being subjected to a double standard of justice and fairness. Twelve chapters look at the extent of female criminality, theoretical and conceptual perspectives on female criminality, female offenders and the law, females and the courts, and females and the correctional system.
Abstract
The work attempts to generate a unisex theory of crime and delinquency through a comprehensive description and analysis of the female offender. It shows that the historical overemphasis on prostitution and sexuality as the primary female crime is inaccurate, focuses on the offenses for which females are more frequently arrested, and outlines theoretical and conceptual perspectives of female crime and delinquency, including the early biological work of Lombroso and later ideas on the influence of hormonal factors on criminality. Freudian perspectives that have been viewed as psychogenic factors in female crime are noted, and three major contemporary perspectives on female criminality are examined. Attention is devoted to the historical development of different laws for females that ultimately led to discrimination on the basis of sex. Case studies and articles demonstrate the idiosyncratic exertion of the law on the basis of sex. Also discussed is the history of policewomen in America. A section on the courts and judicial treatment of females looks at the juvenile court and two basic patterns of juridical discrimination in criminal cases. The final section includes information on the availability and types of correctional facilities for juvenile and adult females, the internal programmatic and service structure of correctional institutions for females, the plight of incarcerated mothers and pregnant women, and the effects of institutionalization on their offspring and families. Chapter notes, over 250 references, and an index are provided.