Measures Tending to Combat Recidivism Among Women Offenders

Abstract

[Editor's Note] Traditionally crime has been the domain of males for a number of reasons, chief of which is the fact that they have had more responsibility in both domestic and occupational areas. In the administration of justice differential treatment has been practiced in accordance with age, sex, social status, race, ethnicity, wealth, education, prestige, and other idiosyncrasies of individuals. Females have a distinct advantage over males in the following areas: 1) the public's report to the police; 2) police arrest; 3) the court's sentence; 4) incarceration. There is evidence to show that because of this males not only risk becoming offenders more than females, but also risk becoming victims of that offense. To cite some examples, in 1972 male arrests outnumbered female by almost six to one in the United States, and only 18 percent of the arrests for Crime Index offenses were women. According to an F.B.I. report approximately 20 per cent of total property crime arrests in 1972 were female. Yet it should be noted that some crimes are committed more by females than by males, such as offenses against chastity and common decency, prostitution, embezzlement and fraud, forgery and counterfeiting, larceny and theft. Recently the F.B.I. reported a rise in female offenses, particularly among those under the age of 18. According to this report, well over half the runaways apprehended are young women. As a result of a higher educational level among women, more women remaining single due to professional and occupational interests, and the Contemporary Women's Liberation movement, a gradual increase in criminality among women is anticipated, although this is disputed by the French correspondent in the following article who argues for a reverse trend. Yet with more women competing with men in the future and becoming more active politically to achieve equality, crime as a predominantly male pattern of behavior may change. Crime among women has yet to be thoroughly studied. Some criminologists maintain that female criminality is “masked” or “suggestive” behavior because to a great extent female criminals are hidden or unreported, or in some instances men commit crime on behalf of women. Any meaningful assessment of female criminality must take into account complex physiological, psychological and socio-cultural factors. The meeting of the International Council of Women in conjunction with the Third United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in 1965 marked only a small beginning in the understanding of this segment of criminal behavior. This article deals only with recidivism among women offenders, and readers are advised to discover how other societies treat female criminals. Although several recommendations are made as to how women offenders can best be served, much more research into female criminality must be done before reaching any definite conclusions. Some causal factors paralleled the male counterpart, but before this segment of criminality can be treated effectively, causal elements of a more general nature must first be established. [Source: “Measures Tending to Combat Recidivism Among Women Offenders,” article submitted by the International Council of Women, Standing Committee for Social Welfare to the 3rd United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Stockholm, A/CONF. 26/NGO/2, 4 May 1965.]