The History, Evolution, and Current State of Female Offenders: Recommendations for Advancing the Field summarizes what the field has learned about females and crime; details the status of legislation and criminological research focused on female criminality; and provides recommendations for advancing the field. Van Gundy and James present the material from a gendered approach with the goal of analyzing the current understanding of the relationship between gender and crime. Tracing the intellectual history of feminist criminology from its foundations to the present time, the authors follow four primary themes: What do we know about the relationship between gender and crime? What special needs do female offenders have? What works and doesn’t work for female offenders? What can or should we do from here? Reaching back to Carol Smart’s seminal 1976 book, Women, Crime and Criminology: A Feminist Critique (available through Routledge Revivals), the authors note that in some ways, modest progress has been made, but large gaps in research and policy still exist. This much-needed book provides an overarching view of the history and evolution of the understanding of the relationship between gender and crime, detailed analysis of seminal work and criminological studies, an exploration of incarceration, reentry and programing, and concrete recommendations for future research. These recommendations focus on the importance of creating and utilizing theoretical models that measure the role of gender and identity, inclusion of female-specific variables when examining and responding to criminality, and the necessity of policymakers and legislators to address female criminality from a gendered lens. The book will appeal to those who are interested in females and criminality, race and ethnicity, policy and evaluation, criminal behavior, criminology, and students in courses in sociology, psychology, women and gender studies, social justice, black world studies, gerontology, and criminology/criminal justice, as well as policymakers and practitioners in the field. It will inspire researchers to ask the kinds of questions that will advance the field of feminist criminology in the future.

Feminist Theory, Crime, and Social Justice offers an insightful look at the primarily masculine-driven perspective on crime and justice through the lens of feminist theory. The book presents the argument that an increased understanding of the female crime typology, life course, and gender-specific programming will improve social justice for offenders. Discussions on the direct implications of the way society views crime and justice contribute to policy recommendations for helping to improve these views, specifically as they relate to female crime.

There is a large body of research that provides guidance for those working with offenders on how they should be treated once they are in the correctional system. The problem is that most, if not all this research has been conducted on all male populations and it is assumed that women offenders are the same. However, women have different needs and support systems than men in some areas of their lives and it is unclear whether all research based on men can be generalized in this way. The book provides a review of the research literature to guide evidence-based practice in the assessment and treatment of adult female offenders. An historical overview of women’s crime and imprisonment will be followed by a global review of various theories of female criminality. The remainder of the book reviews the psychology of criminal conduct, with a specific focus on three psychological principles of effective intervention: risk, need and responsivity. Respectively, these principles set the “who”, “what” and “how” for correctional intervention.

Women in the Criminal Justice System: Tracking the Journey of Females and Crime provides a rare up-to-date examination of women both as offenders and employees in the criminal justice system. While the crime rate in the United States is currently decreasing, the rate of female incarceration is rising. Female participation in the criminal justice wo

Scholarship in 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. In truth, one out of every four juveniles arrested is female and the population of women in prison has tripled in the past decade. Co-authored by Meda Chesney-Lind, one of the pioneers in the development of the feminist theoretical perspective in criminology, the subject matter of The Female Offender: Girls, Women and Crime, Second Edition redresses the balance by providing critical insight into these issues. Bringing much-needed attention to the state of these often "invisible" wrongdoers, The Female Offender enlightens and intrigues readers including academics, researchers, and students in the areas of criminology, criminal justice, sociology, and women’s studies. Likewise, anyone seeking cutting-edge information about a growing offender population will want to read this book.

This book provides a rare up-to-date examination of women both as offenders and employees in the criminal justice system. It presents the current state of females in the system through contributions by expert authors. It discusses the criminal justice system‘s reaction to women, as well as the successes and failures of its responses and current and future consequences. It outlines the history of women in the context of the criminal justice system, discusses specific women‘s issues in focused chapters, and highlights key concepts, statistics, and legislation. Each chapter ends with discussion questions to enhance understanding.

Even though youth crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s, public fear and political rhetoric over the issue have heightened. The Columbine shootings and other sensational incidents add to the furor. Often overlooked are the underlying problems of child poverty, social disadvantage, and the pitfalls inherent to adolescent decisionmaking that contribute to youth crime. From a policy standpoint, adolescent offenders are caught in the crossfire between nurturance of youth and punishment of criminals, between rehabilitation and "get tough" pronouncements. In the midst of this emotional debate, the National Research Council's Panel on Juvenile Crime steps forward with an authoritative review of the best available data and analysis. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents recommendations for addressing the many aspects of America's youth crime problem. This timely release discusses patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescentsâ€"trends revealed by arrest data, victim reports, and other sources; youth crime within general crime; and race and sex disparities. The book explores desistanceâ€"the probability that delinquency or criminal activities decrease with ageâ€"and evaluates different approaches to predicting future crime rates. Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions: Prevention and intervention efforts directed to individuals, peer groups, and families, as well as day care-, school- and community-based initiatives. Intervention within the juvenile justice system. Role of the police. Processing and detention of youth offenders. Transferring youths to the adult judicial system. Residential placement of juveniles. The book includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem.

Female protagonists are commonly overlooked in the history of crime; especially in early modern Italy, where women’s scope of action is often portrayed as heavily restricted. This book redresses the notion of Italian women’s passivity, arguing that women’s crimes were far too common to be viewed as an anomaly. Based on over two thousand criminal complaints and investigation dossiers, Sanne Muurling charts the multifaceted impact of gender on patterns of recorded crime in early modern Bologna. While various socioeconomic and legal mechanisms withdrew women from the criminal justice process, the casebooks also reveal that women – as criminal offenders and savvy litigants – had an active hand in keeping the wheels of the court spinning.