NCJ Number
80450
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1981) Pages: 371-374
Date Published
1981
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Data from a 1979 study by Smart on the correlation between the feminism movement and female criminality in England and Wales are reinterpreted.
Abstract
The Smart study rejected any association between the women's liberation movement and increases in female criminality on the basis of an analysis of criminal indictments in England and Wales. Careful analysis of the data used, however, shows that her interpretation is flawed. Smart concludes that although every decade except 1946 to 1955 shows female offenders to be increasing more rapidly than male offenders, this increase was especially dramatic between 1935 and 1946 and 1955 and 1965. The increase was less dramatic between 1965 and 1975, the years during which the women's movement in Britain was revived. While this interpretation is correct for Class III offenses (theft and the handling of stolen goods) and for the total of indictable offenses, it does not apply for Class I (violence against the person and sexual offenses) and Class II (burglary and robbery) offenses. For these more serious offenses, the 1965-1975 decade does show the greatest increase for females relative to males. Further, statistical analysis produces results consistent with the contention that some unusual force, such as the women's liberation movement, had aggravated the female serious crime rate during this latter period. Although only persons predisposed to attack the women's movement anyway would use this data to justify the continued oppression of women, the findings can be used to show that differences between male and female behavior are more cultural than biological -- a fundamental tenet of the women's movement. Tabular data and six references are provided.