International Perspectives on Female Crime and Its Correction (From Women, Crime, and the Criminal Justice System, P 261-275, 1978, by Lee H Bowker - see NCJ-51572)

• NCJ Number: 81909
• Author(s): L H Bowker
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using selected International Crime Statistics published by INTERPOL between 1950 and 1972, this article examines international patterns in crimes committed by female offenders and presents data on the incarceration of women in Canada, India, Denmark, Australia, and New Zealand.

Abstract

Only 30 nations met the criteria for inclusion in this study which analyzed data for the years 1950, 1955, 1965, and 1972 on murders, major larceny, and total criminal offenses committed by females. These statistics suggest that the female proportion of murderous acts is declining rather than increasing, and that females commit a much smaller proportion of major larcenies than murders. Proportionate female crime was cross-tabulated with the degree of male-female social/educational equality, degree of male-female economic equality, and status of national socioeconomic development. An increase in murders by females was associated with low social/educational equality between the sexes, high male-female economic equality, and low socioeconomic development. Variations among countries suggest that modernization benefits both men and women economically, but because it benefits men more, the differential between the sexes may increase. These strong relationships were not evident for female major larceny. Overall, modernized nations tended to have an increasing female contribution to the total crime rate. Methodological problems encountered in anlyzing female crime rates are discussed, including differences among population subgroups and misleading results from calculating correlations based on the small amount of crime committed by females. Incarceration rates for females, sentences, and prison programs are described for Canada, India, Denmark, Australia, and New Zealand. This information demonstrates that prison systems in countries located on four continents incarcerate roughly the same proportion of females and that female incarceration rates are well below their crime rates. Tables and 26 reference notes are included.