Frequency

1
Frequency Nature of Female Offending

• Dr. Michelle L. Meloy

2
The extent of female offending

• Regardless of measurement source, women commit
  fewer crimes than men
• Males are 5 to 10 times more likely to commit
  crimes than women
• Women account for about 22 of all adult arrests
  and girls accounted for 29 of all juvenile
  arrests

3
The nature of female offending

• Females make up approximately 18 of all known
  violent offenders
• Females account for 30 of all property crimes in
  the UCR
• Females are arrested in about 15 of all
  burglaries, motor vehicle thefts and arsons
• Prostitution (64) and running away (59) are the
  only criminal offenses where females make up the
  bulk of the offenders

4
Top 10 UCR arrests

• larceny-theft
• drug charges
• non-aggravated assaults
• crimes against family members
• DUI
• disorderly conduct
• alcohol violations
• fraud
• aggravated assaults
• drunkenness

• drug charges
• DUI
• non-aggravated assaults
• larceny-theft
• disorderly conduct
• drunkenness
• alcohol violations
• aggravated assaults
• burglary
• vandalism

5
Gender Offending Patterns

• Gender Convergence less difference between male
  and female offending rates
• Gender Divergence increasing difference between
  male and female offending rates
• Gender stability no differences over time
  between offending rates for males and females.
  Rise and fall together

6
Gender Convergence?

• Are women becoming more violent and criminogenic?
• Long-term studies suggest that convergence is
  occurring for misdemeanor property and drug
  charges but otherwise womens criminality appears
  stable
• Increases in female crime seem to be associated
  with changes in cj practices, feminization of
  poverty, changes in data collection techniques,
  small base rate increases

7
Criminal Laws and Gender

• Gender Neutral Laws written laws that apply
  equally to men and women
• Gendered Laws written laws that apply only to
  one sex OR that apply differently to one sex than
  the other
• Sex discrimination can be present in either type
  of law

8
Chivalry Hypothesis?

• Assumes that women get preferential treatment
  from male criminal justice system
• White middle class straight women may receive
  benefits more so than minority and poor women
• In some circumstances women may receive less
  punitive sanctions than men do for the same type
  of crime (misdemeanor crimes)
• In more serious crimes, women may receive more
  punitive sanctions.
• Research results have not resolved the question

9
Female Juvenile Delinquents

• Girls are punished more severely than boys for
  crimes such as running away and curfew violations
  and other status offenses
• Girls are more likely to run away from home
  because they are being abused boys are more
  likely to run away for the thrill
• Girls who are involved in the juvenile justice
  system are more likely to be involved in the
  adult system

10
If Chivalry treatment exists, what explains it?

• Custodial parents more lenient treatment
• Women criminals supportive role to men
• Women commit less serious crimes
• Women commit less violent crimes
• Women have fewer priors

11
History of Womens Punishment

• Middle Ages women could be burned to death for
  committing adultery or for killing their husbands
• These same actions were rarely considered crimes
  if committed by the husbands
• In colonial America women were punished more
  severely than men for committing adultery

12
History of Imprisonment

• 1850s-1870s women men housed in same prisons
• Rape was common among female inmates
• Women had substandard conditions and fewer
  services

13
Women Inmates

• Late 1800s Womens prisons designed for
  rehabilitation
• Facilities were called reformatories instead of
  penitentiaries as was the case of mens
  facilities
• Reformatories were staffed with upper middle
  class female socialites who were interested in
  saving fallen women
• White middle class bias only some women worth
  saving

14
Women Inmates

• Womens imprisonment indeterminate sentencing
  whereas men received determinate sentencing
• Female criminals had it better off and worse off
  than male criminals
• Womens incarceration was easier than mens
  because the facilities were safer and nicer
• Women were incarcerated longer than men
• Women were incarcerated for things that men were
  not

15
Womens Prisons Today

• Female inmates are more likely to be disciplined
  for minor infractions
• They have less access to medical treatment
• They have fewer occupational and educational
  opportunities than male prison institutions
• Job training and skills are gendered and train
  women for lower paid jobs

16
Womens Prisons Today

• Facilities are fewer in number so inmates are
  often farther away from home and relatives
  fewer visits
• Facilities are more college campus like
• Much less violence than mens prisons
• Inmates create families with one another
• Overall, conditions and resources are worse

17
Imprisonment Patterns

• Womens incarceration rates rising faster than
  mens
• This is not due to an increase in the amount of
  female crime
• Incarceration for violence has actually decreased
• Increase in rates seem to be due primarily to
  political changes and legal shifts
• Women are twice as likely as men to be
  incarcerated for drug related offenses

18
Inmate Demographics

• Most female inmates are women of color Blacks
  and Hispanics are over represented
• Most female inmates are from poor families more
  so than even among male inmates
• Most female prisoners have experienced physical
  or sexual abuse in their past this is not the
  case with male prisoners
• Very likely to have a severe substance abuse
  problem

19
Motherhood and Prison

• 4 out of 5 female inmates are mothers
• 65 had custody of their children prior to their
  incarceration
• Consequences to parent and child are more severe
  when the mother is incarcerated than when the
  father is
• Children of incarcerated mothers have an
  increased likelihood of going to prison
  themselves
• Should mothers be allowed to have their young
  children live with them in prison?