WOMEN AND CRIME - DOES THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE GENERALIZE? (FROM CRIMINOLOGY OF DEVIANT WOMEN, 1979, BY FREDA ADLER AND RITA JAMES SIMON - SEE NCJ-56469)

• NCJ Number: 56481
• Author(s): R J SIMON; N SHARMA
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: Houghton Mifflin Co
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

ARREST STATISTICS FOR WOMEN BY OFFENSE AND TOTAL CRIMES IN AMERICA ARE COMPARED WITH SIMILAR STATISTICS IN OTHER COUNTRIES FOR RECENT DECADES.

Abstract

THE ARREST STATISTICS EXAMINED FOR AMERICAN WOMEN INDICATE THAT THE PROPORTION OF WOMEN ARRESTED IN 1974 WAS GREATER THAN THE PROPORTION ARRESTED ONE OR TWO DECADES EARLIER, AND THAT THE INCREASE HAS BEEN CAUSED ALMOST ENTIRELY BY WOMEN'S GREATER PARTICIPATION IN LARCENY, EMBEZZLEMENT, FRAUD, FORGERY, AND COUNTERFEITING. THE INCREASES WERE ESPECIALLY MARKED FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1967 TO 1974. IF THE AVERAGE RATE OF CHANGE THAT OCCURRED BETWEEN 1967 AND 1974 CONTINUES, FEMALE ARREST RATES FOR LARCENY, EMBEZZLEMENT, AND FRAUD WILL BE COMMENSURATE WITH WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION IN SOCIETY IN A MATTER OF YEARS. COMPARISON OF FEMALE ARREST STATISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES WITH FEMALE ARREST DATA COLLECTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE ORGANIZATION FOR 25 COUNTRIES IN 1963, 1968, 1970, AND 1972 SHOWS THAT THE UNITED STATES HAS MOVED FROM 12TH PLACE IN 1963 TO 9TH PLACE IN 1968 AND 1970 TO 5TH PLACE IN 1972. THE DATA ALSO SHOW THAT THE PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN INVOLVED IN CRIME IS GENERALLY HIGH IN WESTERN EUROPEAN SOCIETIES, COMPARED WITH THE LESS ECONOMICALLY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES OF ASIA, AFRICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN. ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO A COMPARISON OF THE ARREST STATISTICS FOR WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES AND FOR THOSE IN ISRAEL AND JAPAN, BECAUSE ISRAEL AND JAPAN PROVIDE USEFUL AND INTERESTING BASES OF COMPARISON DUE TO THEIR SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS WHICH PARALLEL THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES IN MANY RESPECTS. OF THE THREE COUNTRIES, THE UNITED STATES IS THE ONLY ONE TO EXPERIENCE A MOVEMENT FOR WOMEN'S LIBERATION WHICH HAS EXPANDED WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE ARENAS TRADITIONALLY DOMINATED BY MEN. THE FACT THAT DURING THIS PERIOD THERE HAS BEEN BOTH A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE BY WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE AND AN INCREASE IN PROPERTY AND ECONOMIC CRIMES BY WOMEN SEEMS CONSISTENT AND PREDICTABLE. THE FACT THAT SUCH INCREASES IN FEMALE CRIME HAVE NOT OCCURRED IN ISRAEL ALSO SEEMS CONSISTENT AND LOGICAL, SINCE WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE LABOR FORCE HAS NOT INCREASED, NOR HAS THERE BEEN MUCH SUPPORT FOR A WOMEN'S LIBERATION MOVEMENT. IN JAPAN, ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE HAS BEEN A LARGE INCREASE IN FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN PROPERTY OFFENSES, EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF AN INCREASE IN THE PROPORTION OF WOMEN EMPLOYED OUTSIDE THE HOME FULL-TIME AND OF A WOMEN'S LIBERATION MOVEMENT. AT THIS STAGE, BEFORE ANY GENERALIZATIONS CAN BE MADE ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEMALE CRIME AND SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS, MORE DETAILED INFORMATION IS NEEDED FROM DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOCIETIES ON FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION AND OTHER SOCIOECONOMIC INDICATORS THAT MAY BE RELATED TO OVERALL FEMALE CRIME RATES AND TO TYPES OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)