Figure 2: Offenders found guilty or cautioned for indictable offences by type of offence, 2002), E & W. National Crime Statistics.
Female Juvenile Offenders
According to statistics based on crimes, which have been resolved by the police, males commit the great majority of juvenile crime –like adult crime –. There were 142,600 males aged 10-17 convicted or cautioned in 1996 and only 34,000 females (Home Office Statistics, 1996). Self –report data reveals a more complex picture. The Home Office study of ‘Young people and Crime’ showed the ratio of males and females who admitted they had ever committed offences was nearly 1:1 for 14-17 year olds (although the number and seriousness of self-reported offences was significantly greater for boys). The ratio of male to female offenders increased to 4:1 for 18-21 year olds and to 11:1 for young adults aged 22-25.
Criminal Justice Biased
Is the significant gap between gender crime rates the result of the attitudes of the police and magistrates tending to be more chivalrous and lenient towards female offenders, resulting less conviction rates? The issue of Criminal Justice biased was attempted to be addressed by Farrington & Morris (1983). They conducted a study of sentencing in Magistrate Courts. They discovered that in 1979, 6.6% of men but only 2% of women found guilty of indictable offences were imprisoned. This seems to support the idea of an existing biased.
The number of women serving prison sentences makes up only a few percent of the prison population. In 1987, there were 47,200 male prisoners in England and Wales, compared to 1,800 females. In September, 1998-The Home Office Affairs Commission published a report called ‘Alternatives to Prison Sentences’. It concluded that ‘many people currently being sentenced could be dealt with effectively by a non- custodial sentence’. The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Sir David Ramsbottom, told the committee that ‘perhaps 70% of women and 30-40% of young offenders did not need to be in prison’ (Martin, 2002). There is support for the view that women who are single, divorced or who have children in care are more likely to receive a custodial sentence than women who have a stable home life. Many women prisoners are mothers, 55% have 1 child under 16, a third of which are under 5 (Martin, 2002). The statistics suggests a hidden element of discrimination against women who are thought to be failing in their traditional roles in society.
Causes of female offending
Crime can only occur the element of opportunity exists. Women, compared to men will have fewer opportunities to commit crimes if they have a home life and children to look after. Women may commit fewer crimes than young men because they are less likely to have full-time paid work and more likely to have full-time responsibilities within the home. Freda Adler, (1975) claimed that the contribution to female crime was the result of Women’s Liberation. She believed that women were taking on male- roles in both legitimate and illegitimate areas of activity. She suggested that women were being given the opportunity to enter the labour force, where they wanted increases representation in jobs previously reserved for men.
Poverty
Other criminologists have specifically referred to the 'feminization of poverty' to explain changes in female criminality. Pat Carlen (1988) in her study of the criminal careers of 39 women, has argued that the policies on employment, taxation, tax allowances, social security and social services introduced under the Thatcher Governments had resulted in the 'feminization of poverty' which had the effect of criminalising a larger number of women: ‘The effects of such polices are that more young women either coming out of residential care or leaving families too poverty-stricken themselves to keep unemployed teenagers are turning to a street life of begging, prostitution or drug abuse; and that more women on social security are making themselves vulnerable to prosecution either by putting forward fraudulent claims to benefits or by engaging in the hidden economy’(Carlen, 1988)
Biological Factors
Females are perceived to posses a natural desire to be caring and nurturing. ‘Normal’ women are therefore less likely to commit crime. On the other hand some writers such as Dalton (1964) have claimed that hormonal or menstrual factors can influence the minority of women to commit crime in certain circumstances. As with the popular stereotypes of women in society generally women offenders are portrayed as hysterical, irrational and incapable of being fully responsible for her actions and crimes due to her biology and sex (Allen, 1987). The policy implications for biological or appearance would be an easily identifiable trait and criminals could be ‘spotted’ to aid criminologists and in the reduction of crime.
Labelling Theory
Labelling theories ask why some people are defined as criminal and other are not. Once labeled, what are the impacts on individuals? Labeling someone and emphasizing any one out for special treatment becomes a way of stimulating, suggesting and evoking the very traits that are complained of. People, who are labeled deviant, tend to lose contact with conformist friends and will begin to socialize with similarly labelled deviants.
Drug and Alcohol Addictions
Richard Mancuso and Brenda Miller published a report on “Crime and Punishment in the Lives of Women Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Users: Exploring the Gender, Lifestyle and Legal Issues,” focus on women involved in lifestyles of alcohol and other drug usage in addition to sociocultural factors differentiating male and female offenders involved in these lifestyles, they make several observations about gender and AOD involvement that relate to biological differences between men and women. Because women become addicted more quickly than men, they may be more at risk for drug-related criminal involvement. Misconceptions about the relationship between substance abuse and crime are commonplace, as are stereotypes of substance-abusing women. Mancuso and Miller present data refuting these many myths while also showing how the unique treatment needs of substance-abusing women are not being met.
Feminist Criminology
Most feminist criminology involves critiques about how women offenders have been ignored, distorted, or stereotyped within traditional criminology. Almost all women criminologists or criminologists of women who examine gender and crime have addressed the "gender ratio" problem - why women are less likely, and men more likely, to commit crime? Many feminist perspectives have been developed because of the lack of explanatory theories for understanding female criminality. These are:
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Liberal Feminism- This perspective is based on the concept of bringing bringing women onto the agenda by demonstrating how women have been ignored in research. It aims to provide greater understanding of female deviance. In particular, new theories can be developed, that will cover both male and female crime.
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Radical feminism- This perspective looks at how women came to occupy subservient roles in the first place, what male power consists of, and how societies themselves can be transformed. Radical feminist Criminologists are also of the view that the only way to understand crime is to see it through a female perspective.
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Socialist Feminism- Offers ideas about more equitable roles for women as sex providers, child bearers, nursemaids, and homemakers, so that they can take their rightful place in society.
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Postmodern feminism- Writers such as Carol Smart (1990) proposed that the very concerns of criminology (burglary/street crime, etc) are actually a reflection of male concerns, and that women should be looking beyond these to consider how harm comes to women. Opposed to accepting the ‘male’ boundaries that other theories offer.
