The female offender : girls, women, and crime / editors, Meda Chesney-Lind, Lisa Pasko.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Chesney-Lind, Meda.

Pasko, Lisa.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Female offenders--United States.

Female offenders.

United States.

Female juvenile delinquents--United States.

Female juvenile delinquents.

Discrimination in criminal justice administration--United States.

Discrimination in criminal justice administration.

Physical Description:

xiii, 224 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

Third edition.

Place of Publication:

Thousand Oaks, Calif. : SAGE, [2013]

Summary:

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 Female Offender: Girls, Women, and Crime, Third Edition, redresses 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 affects the treatment received by this offender population. The text covers additional topics such the interaction of sexism, racism, and social class inequalities that results in an increase of female offenders, as well as the imprisonment hinge that has resulted in an increasing number of girls and women being incarcerated.

Research literature and data on females' arrests, pathways to court involvement, and corrections have been expanded and updated to reflect recent findings in the field.

A more in-depth discussion of girls' aggression has been included, as well as a judicious exploration of whether girls arc indeed becoming more violent.

Analysis and results from a recently completed, unpublished study on girls' narratives of school-based assaults have been added to keep readers informed on this timely topic.

Updated research on the juvenile justice treatment of girl offenders, including a look at direct files into the adult system, has been included to further explore this population of female offenders.

The book has been updated throughout with recent research and theories, new or expanded federal and state programs, and statistical data for such topics as violence against girls and women, girls' gang membership, incarceration rates, and crimes perpetrated by girls and women.

The authors have expanded the coverage on women's life behind bars, with a specific focus on those serving life without parole and those on death row.

A new chapter with original research that examines women on parole, discussing how gender matters when it comes to surviving parole, and ending with a feminist criminological analysis of evidence-based community corrections. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

2 Girls' Troubles and "Female Delinquency" 10

Trends in Girls' Arrests 11

Boys' Theories and Girls' Lives 16

Criminalizing Girls' Survival: Abuse, Victimization, and Girls' Official Delinquency 24

Delinquency Theory and Gender: Beyond Status Offenses 32

3 Girls, Gangs, and Violence 33

Girls Gone Wild? 33

The Media, Girls of Color, and Gangs 33

Trends in Girls' Violence and Aggression 37

Girls, Robbery, and "Other" Assaults 39

Girl Gang Membership 42

Girls and Gangs: Qualitative Studies 45

Labeling Girls Violent? 54

Girls, Gangs, and Media Hype: A Final Note 55

4 The Juvenile Justice System and Girls 57

"The Best Place to Conquer Girls" 58

Girls and Juvenile Justice Reform 62

Deinstitutionalization and Judicial Paternalism: Challenges to the Double Standard of Juvenile Justice 64

Rising Detentions and Racialized Justice 71

Offense Patterns of Girls in Custody-Bootstrapping 80

Deinstitutionalization or Transinstitutionalization? Girls and the Mental Health System 83

Girls' Sexuality in institutional Environments 86

Human Rights Abuses in Girls' Institutions? 87

Instead of Incarceration: What Could Be Done to Meet the Needs of Girls? 91

5 Trends in Women's Crime 97

Unruly Women: A Brief History of Women's Offenses 98

Trends in Women's Arrests 100

How Could She? The Nature and Causes of Women's Crime 102

Embezzlement 103

Driving Under the Influence 104

Larceny Theft/Shoplifting 104

Big Time/Small Time 106

Pathways to Women's Crime 107

Beyond the Street Woman: Resurrecting the Liberated Female Crook? 111

The Revival of the "Violent Female Offender" 114

6 Sentencing Women to Prison: Equality Without Justice 119

Trends in Women's Crime: A Reprise 120

Women, Violent Crimes, and the War on Drugs 121

Getting Tough on Women's Crime 125

Building More Women's Prisons 129

Profile of Women in U.S. Prisons 130

Childhoods of Women in Prison 130

Current Offenses 133

Property Crimes 134

Drug Use Among Women in Prison 135

Mothers Behind Bars 136

Race and Women's Imprisonment 138

Different Versus Equal? 140

Prisons and Parity 141

Reducing Women's Imprisonment Through Effective

Community-Based Strategies and Programs 148

Detention Versus Prevention 150

7 Female Offenders, Community Supervision, and Evidence-Based Practices / Janet T. Davidson Davidson, Janet T. 153

Trends in Probation, Incarceration, and Parole 154

Evidence-Based Practices and Gender-Neutral Supervision 155

Challenging Gender-Neutral Risk-Driven Supervision 162

Criminal History 162

Education and Employment 163

Financial 164

Family and Marital 165

Accommodation 167

Alcohol and Drug Problems 168

Emotional and Personal 169

Challenging Gender-Neutral Supervision: Women's Histories of Victimization, Health Problems, and Child Care Needs 171

Histories of Abuse 171

Health and Children 173

Supervision and Reintegration 174

Moving Forward: Gender-Equitable Supervision for Female Offenders in the Community 175

Promising Examples for Moving Forward 177.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781412996693

1412996694

OCLC:

754518612