The Female Offender; Girls, Women and Crime

by Meda Chesney-Lind

• ISBN13: 9780761924050
• ISBN10: 0761924051
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-07-17
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

Studies of criminology over the last few decades has often left little room for research and theory on how female offenders are perceived and handled in the criminal justice system. Co-authored by Meda Chesney-Lind, one of the pioneers in the development of the feminist theoretical perspective in criminology, this 2nd edition redresses the balance by providing critical insight into these issues.In an engaging style, authors Meda Chesney-Lind and Lisa Pasko explore gender and cultural factors in women's lives that often precede criminal behavior and address the question of whether female offenders are more violent today than in the past. The authors provide a revealing look at how public discomfort with the idea of women as criminals significantly impacts the treatment received by this offender population.The result is a book that will be an enlightening and thought-provoking read for academics, researchers and students not just in the areas of criminology and criminal justice but in more general sociology and women's studies as well.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
1. Introduction	1	(8)
2. Girls' Troubles and "Female Delinquency"	9	(22)
Trends in Girls' Arrests	10	(4)
Boys' Theories and Girls' Lives	14	(9)
Criminalizing Girls' Survival: Abuse, Victimization, and Girls' Official Delinquency	23	(7)
Delinquency Theory and Gender: Beyond Status Offenses	30	(1)
3. Girls, Gangs, and Violence: Rediscovering the "Liberated Female Crook"	31	(24)
The Media, Girls of Color, and Gangs	32	(3)
Trends in Girls' Violence and Aggression	35	(4)
Girl Gang Membership	39	(4)
Girls and Gangs: Qualitative Studies	43	(9)
Labeling Girls Violent?	52	(1)
Girls, Gangs, and Media Hype: A Final Note	53	(2)
4. The Juvenile Justice System and Girls	55	(40)
"The Best Place to Conquer Girls"	56	(4)
Girls and Juvenile Justice Reform	60	(3)
Deinstitutionalization and Judicial Paternalism: Challenges to the Double Standard of Juvenile Justice	63	(5)
Rising Detentions and Racialized Justice	68	(10)
Offense Patterns of Girls in Custody Bootstrapping	78	(4)
Deinstitutionalization or Transinstitutionalization? Girls and the Mental Health System	82	(3)
Small Numbers Don't Mean Small Problems: Girls in Institutions	85	(3)
Instead of Incarceration: What Could Be Done to Meet the Needs of Girls?	88	(7)
5. Trends in Women's Crime	95	(22)
Unruly Women: A Brief History of Women's Offenses	95	(3)
Trends in Women's Arrests	98	(3)
How Could She? The Nature and Causes of Women's Crime	101	(1)
Embezzlement	101	(1)
Driving Under the Influence	102	(1)
Larceny Theft/Shoplifting	103	(1)
Big Time/Small Time	104	(1)
Pathways to Women's Crime	105	(4)
Beyond the Street Woman: Resurrecting the Liberated Female Crook?	109	(4)
The Revival of the "Violent Female Offender"	113	(4)
6. Drugs, Violence, and Women's Crime	117	(22)
With Karen Joe Laidler
Drug Use in a Multiethnic Community	118	(2)
A Profile of the Women	120	(1)
The Family: Conflict and Comfort	120	(3)
Dealing With Family Turmoil	123	(1)
Pathway to Drugs	124	(3)
Demystifying Women of Color	127	(1)
Gender, Culture, and Drug Use	128	(1)
"Crack Pipe as Pimp": Drugs, Ethnicity, and Gender in African American Communities	128	(4)
Prostitution and Drug Use	132	(1)
Victimization, Prostitution, and Women's Crime	133	(3)
Conclusion	136	(3)
7. Sentencing Women to Prison: Equality Without Justice	139	(32)
Trends in Women's Crime: A Reprise	140	(1)
Women, Violent Crimes, and the War on Drugs	141	(3)
Getting Tough on Women's Crime	144	(4)
Building More Women's Prisons	148	(1)
Profile of Women in U.S. Prisons	149	(1)
Childhoods of Women in Prison	149	(2)
Current Offenses	151	(1)
Property Crimes	152	(1)
Drug Use Among Women in Prison	153	(1)
Mothers Behind Bars	154	(1)
Race and Women's Imprisonment	155	(3)
Different Versus Equal?	158	(1)
Prisons and Parity	159	(6)
Reducing Women's Imprisonment Through Effective Community-Based Strategies and Programs	165	(2)
Detention Versus Prevention	167	(4)
8. Conclusion	171	(6)
References	177	(22)
Index	199	(16)
About the Authors	215