ETIOLOGY OF FEMALE CRIME - A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

• NCJ Number: 12609
• Journal: ISSUES IN CRIMINOLOGY Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (FALL 1973) Pages: 3-30
• Author(s): D KLEIN
• Date Published: 1973
• Length: 28 pages
• Corporate Author: University of California, Berkeley
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

WRITINGS REFLECTING TRADITIONAL ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE INHERENT NATURE OF WOMEN FROM THE TIME OF LOMBROSO TO THE PRESENT.

Abstract

IN TRACING THE DEVELOPMENT AND INTERACTION OF IDEAS PERTAINING TO SEXUAL IDEOLOGY BASED ON ASSUMPTIONS OF THE INHERENT UNIVERSAL NATURE OF WOMEN THROUGHOUT THE WORKS OF LOMBROSO, THOMAS, FREUD, DAVIS, AND POLLAK, IT APPEARS THAT SEXUALITY IS A THEME PRESENT IN ALL THE THEORIES. THE AUTHORS SEE CRIME AND DELINQUENCY AS A REBELLION AGAINST SEX ROLES AND ASCRIBE QUALITIES OF MASCULINITY TO FEMALE REBELS. THE WRITERS SEE CRIMINALITY AS THE RESULT OF INDIVIDUAL PHYSIOLOGICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE ONLY PERIPHERALLY AFFECTED BY ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL FORCES. THE AUTHOR FEELS THAT THESE ASSUMPTIONS ARE SEXIST, RACIST, AND CLASSIST. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)