NCJ Number
65916
Date Published
1980
Length
22 pages
Annotation
ORGANIZED CRIME HAS TRADITIONALLY EMPLOYED WOMEN, BUT MODERN CRIME HISTORIES IGNORE THIS BECAUSE OF PATERNALISTIC ATTITUDES ABOUT FEMALE CRIMINALS.
Abstract
ALTHOUGH CRIME HISTORIES PORTRAY MODERN ORGANIZED CRIME AS A MALE BROTHERHOOD, HISTORIES OF ORGANIZED CRIME IN THE 19TH CENTURY REPORT THAT WOMEN WERE ROBBERS, MADAMS, BLACKMAILERS, AND GANG LEADERS AND WERE OFTEN MORE FEROCIOUS THAN THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS. THUS, DUE TO CURRENT DISINTEREST IN ORGANIZED CRIME'S SOCIAL CONTEXT AND A WRONG INTERPRETATION OF FEMALE CRIMINALITY THAT HAS BEEN PERPETRATED SINCE THE EARLY 1900'S. MODERN CRIME TO MISREAD AS BEING A MALE PRESERVE. ALL FEMALE CRIMINALITY HAS BEEN IGNORED SAVE PROSTITUTION, AND THAT WAS AND IS SEEN AS A PRODUCT OF MALE BRUTALITY. ALSO, IN THE EARLY 1900'S PROSTITUTION IN CITIES WAS CONSIDERED AN IMMIGRANT IMPORT RATHER THAN AN ADAPTION TO POVERTY AND URBAN LIVING. NEVERTHELESS, EARLY RECORDS BY ETHNIC ORGANIZATIONS DURING THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY CONFIRM THAT WOMEN SUCH AS ROSIE HERTZ, BESSIE SOLOMON, AND SPANISH MARY RAN ALL SORTS OF CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES AND HEADED CRIME FAMILIES. EVIDENCE THAT WOMEN ARE INVOLVED IN THE MODERN MAFIA IS ALSO IGNORED, SINCE HISTORIANS ARE MORE INTERESTED IN THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZED CRIME THAN ITS CRIMINALS. FINALLY, WOMEN CRIMINALS HAVE BEEN INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH BAIL BONDS RACKETS. NONETHELESS, CRIMINAL ESTABLISHMENTS RUN BY EITHER MEN OR WOMEN, AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE AS COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES HAVE BEEN IGNORED. REFERENCES AND NOTES ARE SUPPLIED. (PAP)