INTERACTION BETWEEN WOMEN'S EMANCIPATION AND FEMALE CRIMINALITY - A CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE (FROM CRIMINOLOGY OF DEVIANT WOMEN, 1979, BY FREDA ADLER AND RITA JAMES SIMON - SEE HCJ-56469

• NCJ Number: 56482
• Author(s): F ADLER
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 12 pages
• Corporate Author: Houghton Mifflin Co
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. REPRINTED FROM INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY AND PENOLOGY, (1977) P 101-112

Annotation

MOVEMENTS TOWARD GREATER SOCIO-POLITICO-ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES ARE NOTED AND CORRELATED WITH INCREASING FEMALE CRIME RATES IN THOSE NATIONS.

Abstract

MOVEMENTS FOR EQUALITY FOR WOMEN IN COUNTRIES OF WIDELY DIVERGENT CULTURES HAVE BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY WOMEN CLAMORING FOR AND ATTAINING OPPORTUNITIES IN LEGITIMATE VOCATIONAL FIELDS FORMERLY DOMINATED BY MEN. INCREASING FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN LEGITIMATE FIELDS HAS ALSO BEEN MATCHED BY PROGRESSIVE FEMALE INVOLVEMENT IN MAJOR CRIME CATEGORIES WHICH TRADITIONALLY HAVE BEEN 'FOR MEN ONLY.' BETWEEN 1960 AND 1975, THE NUMBER OF WOMEN ARRESTED FOR ROBBERY IN THE UNITED STATES ROSE BY 380 PERCENT COMPARED TO A 214 PERCENT RISE FOR MEN. SIMILAR DIFFERENCES ARE FOUND IN FRAUD (UP 465 PERCENT FOR WOMEN, 130 PERCENT FOR MEN) AND BURGLARY (UP 298 PERCENT FOR WOMEN, 11 PERCENT FOR MEN). THERE HAS NOT YET BEEN A COMPARATIVELY ACCELERATED INCREASE IN FEMALE ARRESTS FOR MURDER AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS. DATA FROM OTHER NATIONS (JAPAN, ENGLAND, WALES, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, CANADA, NORWAY, BRAZIL, AND POLAND) ARE QUOTED TO SHOW SIMILAR TRENDS IN FEMALE CRIME. ARREST STATISTICS FOR ADULT FEMALE CRIMINALITY ARE EQUALED AND, IN SOME OFFENSE CATEGORIES, OUTSTRIPPED BY FEMALE JUVENILES UNDER EIGHTEEN IN THE UNITED STATES. SIMILAR TRENDS ARE NOTED FOR GERMANY, ENGLAND, AND WALES. IN MANY CULTURES UNDERGOING CHANGE, ADOLESCENCE HAS BECOME A SPAN OF PSYCHOLOGICAL LIMBO FRAUGHT WITH ATTEMPTS TO USE ROLE MODELS WHO THEMSELVES ARE IN A TENUOUS POSITION. WITH TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES REDUCING THE NUMBER OF UNSKILLED JOBS AND CULTURAL CHANGES REDEFINING THE FEMALE ROLE, NEVER BEFORE HAVE SO MANY YOUNG FEMALES HAD SO MUCH INCENTIVE TO DESERT TRADITIONAL ROLES AND SO FEW OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND NEW ONES. A RISE IN DELINQUENCY UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS IS PREDICTABLE. ACTIVITIES OF POLITICIZED FEMALES ARE LIKEWISE INCREASING AND BECOMING MORE VIOLENT. EXAMPLES OF THIS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES ARE CITED. SUPPORTING STATISTICS ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)