NCJ Number
67637
Date Published
1979
Length
20 pages
Annotation
A PAPER FOCUSING ON THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF WOMEN'S INVOLVEMENT IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IS PRESENTED; GENERAL TRENDS OCCURRING BETWEEN 1973 AND 1978 ARE DISCUSSED.
Abstract
THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS FOR INDEX CRIMES FOR FEMALES BETWEEN 1973 AND 1978. A TOTAL OF 1,208 FEMALES WERE ARRESTED FOR INDEX CRIMES DURING 1973, AND 1,126 WERE ARRESTED DURING 1978, REPRESENTING A DECREASE OF 7 PERCENT. NONINDEX CRIME ARRESTS INCREASED FROM 2,909 DURING 1975 TO 3,476 DURING 1976. THEY ALSO INCREASED, BY 8 PERCENT, BETWEEN 1976 AND 1977. HOWEVER, THE TREND CHANGED BETWEEN 1977 AND 1978, RESULTING IN A 10 PERCENT DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF NONINDEX CRIME ARRESTS. THE NUMBER OF FEMALE ADMISSIONS TO DETENTION HAS FLUCTUATED BETWEEN 1973 AND 1978 WITH NO CLEAR TREND. HOWEVER, THERE WAS A 91 PERCENT INCREASE IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF WOMEN SENTENCED TO INCARCERATION BETWEEN 1975 AND 1976. IN 1975 THERE WAS INCARCERATION IMPOSED ON WOMEN FOR EVERY 15 TO 16 ARRESTS. DURING 1976 THROUGH 1978 THE RATIO WAS 1 INCARCERATION FOR EVERY 10 ARRESTS. IN GENERAL, DURING 1977 AND 1978, FEMALES WERE ARRESTED, ADMITTED TO DETENTION, AND SENTENCED TO INCARCERATION AT LOWER LEVELS THAN THEY WERE DURING 1976. IN ADDITION, THE AVERAGE MAXIMUM LENGTH OF SENTENCE WAS SHORTER. THESE FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO A 14 PERCENT DECREASE IN THE AVERAGE DAILY POPULATION FOR FEMALES BETWEEN 1977 AND 1978. BOTH MALES AND FEMALES WERE ARRESTED FOR FEWER INDEX AND NONINDEX CRIMES DURING 1978 THAN DURING 1977. THERE WERE ALSO PROGRESSIVELY FEWER ARRESTS FOR VIOLENT CRIMES FOR BOTH MALES AND FEMALES FROM 1975 TO 1978. THE DATA DO NOT SUPPORT THE THEORY THAT FEMALES ARE BEING ARRESTED FOR MORE CRIMES, MORE SERIOUS CRIMES, OR MORE VIOLENT CRIMES. DESPITE THIS FACT, INCARCERATION COSTS FOR WOMEN HAVE RISEN OVER $1.5 MILLION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. TABULAR STATISTICS ARE PROVIDED IN THE PAPER. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED).