NCJ Number
34412
Date Published
1976
Length
119 pages
Annotation
THE RESULTS OF THREE STUDIES CONCERNED WITH COURT TREATMENT, SENTENCING, AND RECIDIVISM OF FEMALE OFFENDERS ARE PRESENTED.
Abstract
THE FIRST STUDY IN THIS REPORT EXAMINES THE RECONVICTION RATES AND SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A SAMPLE OF 129 FEMALES EIGHT YEARS AFTER THEIR RELEASE FROM A BRITISH BORSTAL. IT WAS FOUND THAT ONE-THIRD OF THESE FEMALES HAD NO FURTHER CONVICTIONS, AND THAT AN ADDITIONAL 17 PERCENT COMMITTED ONLY ONE OR TWO MINOR OFFENSES. THE SECOND STUDY IN THIS VOLUME, 'THE SENTENCING OF WOMEN AT LONDON HIGHER COURTS', IS A DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY OF 1313 WOMEN AGED 17 AND ABOVE WHO APPEARED BEFORE THESE COURTS IN 1969 AND 1970, WITH A TWO-YEAR FOLLOW-UP DURING WHICH THEIR RECONVICTION RATES WERE STUDIED. THE SOCIAL AND FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES OF A SUB-SAMPLE OF THESE WOMEN ARE ALSO DESCRIBED, AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF SOME OF THESE FACTORS TO SUBSEQUENT RECONVICTION IS EXAMINED. THE THIRD STUDY, 'GIRLS APPEARING BEFORE A JUVENILE COURT', EXAMINES THE FAMILY AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON A GROUP OF GIRLS AGED 14 TO 16 WHO APPEARED BEFORE THE GREENWICH JUVENILE COURT. COMPARATIVE INFORMATION WAS OBTAINED FROM A GROUP OF NON-DELINQUENT SCHOOL GIRLS, AND THE FACTORS ARE EXAMINED WHICH SEEMED TO HAVE THE GREATEST INFLUENCE ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE GIRLS COMING BEFORE THE COURT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)