Women and Crime

by Heidensohn, Frances; Silvestri, Marisa

• ISBN13: 9780814735268
• ISBN10: 0814735266
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-11-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

Women criminals have rarely been studied; they have been rendered invisible in all but a few sensationalized cases. . . . women who are non-traditional are labeled as deviant; some are called 'mad' and locked up in mental institutions while other are labeled 'bad' and incarcerated. Women and Crime is filled with examples of how this occurs. . . . Heidensohn richly analyzes the popular feminist critique of traditional criminology.--Contemporary PsychologyWhen Susan Smith lost her two boys, her saga captivated the hearts of America. Now that she has been indicted for their murder, she has been demonized by the public. How does the fact that she is a woman influence the venom people now feel towards her crime?In Women and Crime, Frances M. Heidensohn shows that although women commit fewer crimes than men, the punishments women receive are often harsher than men's. The author highlights the crucial role of the media and popular culture and the complex, often stereotyped images of deviant women, as well as the ways in which social control is exercised over women in the family, society, and work.With a new introduction and a new final chapter, the second edition of Frances M. Heidensohn's classic text of feminist criminology also features a fully up-to-date and integrated bibliography.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the first edition	ix
Preface to the first edition	xi
Preface to the second edition	xiii
Acknowledgements	xvi
Introducing women and crime	1	(12)
The issues	2	(1)
Crime and women	3	(10)
The experiences of women and crime	13	(18)
Rosa	14	(2)
Some women resist deviant identities	16	(4)
Delinquent girls and delinquent subcultures	20	(3)
Women who defy man-made laws	23	(4)
Prostitutes organise	27	(3)
Some concluding thoughts	30	(1)
Women and justice	31	(28)
The law	33	(7)
The courts	40	(11)
The police	51	(8)
Women and the penal system	59	(25)
The women in prison	66	(2)
Prisons for women today	68	(8)
The sociology of women's prisons	76	(2)
Prison staff	78	(6)
Images of deviant women	84	(26)
Understanding female criminality	110	(15)
Social theories	110	(1)
Traditional criminology	111	(2)
Lombroso and Ferrero	113	(2)
Thomas	115	(3)
Pollak	118	(3)
The European tradition	121	(4)
Modern theories and female criminality	125	(20)
Modern American sociology of deviance	125	(20)
Feminist Criminology	145	(18)
Feminist critique of criminology	146	(8)
Women's liberation and female crime	154	(6)
Developing feminist criminology	160	(3)
Women and social control	163	(33)
Women in control	164	(10)
The control of women	174	(22)
Conclusion: towards a feminist understanding	196	(5)
Towards a theory	197	(1)
Messages and insights	198	(3)
New reflections on women and crime	201	(19)
Bibliography	220	(19)
Index	239