NCJ Number
219137
Editor(s)
Frances Heidensohn
Date Published
2006
Length
328 pages
Annotation
Focusing on research and policy in the United Kingdom, the 14 chapters of this book address gender issues in criminal behavior, gender issues in the criminal justice system, and new concepts and approaches for addressing the needs of women in criminal justice policies and criminology.
Abstract
The five chapters that address gender issues in criminal behavior consider gender differences in drug use, gender differences in self-reported offending, differences in participation in and techniques of school bullying by boys and girls, the British Government's regulation of women prostitutes, and the experiences and coping of women relatives of serious offenders. Five chapters examine gender issues in the criminal justice system. One chapter focuses on whether and how gender affects magistrates' decisions about the remand (detention) of defendants. Another chapter reports on research that examined coping mechanisms of young female inmates while in prison. Issues examined were the use of medicine to control the symptoms of mental disorder, suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders. Another chapter presents a case study of a women's correctional institution in Ireland that is apparently succeeding in tailoring its design and programming to the distinctive needs of its women inmates. The final chapter in this section reports on why a similar reform effort in Canada failed. The concluding section of the book contains four chapters on new concepts and approaches in addressing gender issues in criminology and criminal justice policies. The first chapter discusses a feminist criminological agenda that takes into account biological as well as sociocultural influences on criminal behavior. Another chapter brings the principles of human rights to bear on gender issues in crime and criminal justice. This same issue is discussed within the evolving postcolonial societies of South Africa and Zimbabwe. The concluding chapter examines gender issues in the context of organizational reform. 4 figures, 9 tables, and chapter references