Discussion 7
FEMALE OFFENDERS and their crimes
SECTION VIII
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Introduction
- Females are involved in a variety of crimes
- Narrowing of the “gender gap”
- Gender proportions only
- Females more likely to engage in property crimes
- Women’s arrests increased 24.9% between 2003 and 2012
- NCVS data reveals negligible differences in the gender gap
- Decreases in male offending rather than increases in female offending
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Women & Drugs
- Historically, drug use by women was normalized
- Now, there exists greater stigma and increased negative attitudes, especially toward addicted mothers
- Women as “targets” of the War on Drugs
- Resulted in significant increases in incarcerated females
- Drug use as intertwined with property crimes and sex work
- Survival crimes
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Women & Drugs
- Similar pathways of drug use among women
- Pathways revolve around
- Early exposure
- Predicts longevity of substance abuse
- Early victimization and reoccurring trauma
- Majority of addicted women have trauma histories
- Running away leads to survival crimes
- Social marginalization and economic pressures
- Issues include unemployment, lack of job skills, homelessness, and domestic violence
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Women & Drugs
- Pathways and mental health needs
- Co-occurring mental health issues
- More severe for women than men
- Use of substances to self-medicate
- Survival crimes once on the street
- Psychological interventions are needed
- Other pathways to addiction
- Addicted women perceive few options for improvement of their condition
- Perception of drug abuse as something to fear
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Property Crime
- Property crime can include theft, burglary, arson, and fraud
- Property crime is generally in decline
- Rates vary depending on type of property crime
- Property crimes integrated into the drug trade
- Drugs are the most common factor in female property offending
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Property Crime
- Economic Survival
- Unemployment
- Need money to support themselves and their families
- May be a secondary consequence of addiction
- Pink-Collar Crime
- Shoplifting
- Used as a primary occupation
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
- Hollywood images do not reflect reality
- Prostitution can take a variety of forms
- Escort services
- Craig’s List
- Work in brothels, bars, truck stops, and street corners
- The trade of sex for drugs or necessities (food, shelter)
- These women are most vulnerable
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
- Pathways to prostitution
- Risk factors include abandonment, abuse, addiction, and poverty
- Impact of early childhood sexual victimization
- Sex as a commodity
- Running away from home
Path for predation
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
Prostitutes experience and witness high levels of violence
Do not report out of fear and the belief that police will not help them
Trauma leads to mental health issues
Engage in self-protection
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
- Substance abuse significantly increases the likelihood a woman will engage in prostitution
- Used to cope with trauma prior to prostitution
- Used to self-medicate while prostituting
- As time on the street increases so does substance abuse
- Self-perpetuating cycle
- Crack cocaine addiction and prostitution
- Increased number of prostitutes Decreased price for services
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
- Long-term consequences for physical health
- HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other chronic issues
- Death rate is 40 times higher than the overall population
- Mental health consequences
- Estimated 2/3 of prostituted women experiences symptoms of PTSD
- Unable to accurately assess threat levels leading to increased risk for victimization
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
- The Legalization Debate
- Nevada
- Laws focus on the minimization of risk and reduction of violence
- The Netherlands
- Governing the sex trade through licensure
- Labor laws
- Created a tax base
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
- The Legalization Debate
Sustainable economy of prostitution allows for needs of prostitutes to be met and enables the creation of an economic strategy for these women
However, there is no guarantee that laws will be followed
- Legislation focusing on criminalizing the demand for sexual services
- In the U.S. prostitutes are significantly more likely to face sanctions
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Prostitution
- Taking into account larger issues
- Economics, globalization, poverty, and inequality
- Legalization does not equal safety or escape from stigma
- Face victim blaming
- Lack access to public health services
- Multiple unaddressed needs limit women from leaving the lifestyle
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Girls in Gangs
- Difficult to determine the extent of female gang membership
- Estimates suggest that 8-11% of gang members are female although official data may not include females
- Self-report data reflects higher percentages
- Females in gangs distinguished by sexuality
- As a girlfriend of a male gang member
- One who engages in sex with male gang members
- As one who uses her sexuality in order to avoid detection by rival gang members and police
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Girls in Gangs
- Today, more girls are active participants
- Girls in gangs have troubling histories
- They lack opportunities for pro-social activities and are pressured to join gangs
- The gang life may be a family affair
- Affiliation comes at an early age
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Girls in Gangs
- Girls may join a gang in search of a new family
- Abuse histories
- The gang provides support and a sense of family
- Trajectory of girls into gangs
- Relationship between
- Neighborhood exposure to gangs
- Family involvement in the lifestyle
- Presence of problems in the family
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Girls in Gangs
- Lifestyle and structure of female gangs are as diverse as male gangs
- Initiation
- Being “jumped” or “walking in line”
- Being “sexed” in or “pulling a train”
- Less respect, see as exploitable
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Girls in Gangs
- Girls do engage in crimes but media attention is tied more to violations of gender-role expectations
- “Bad” girls
- “Independent” girls at risk for violent victimization
- Take precautionary measures
- Although male members can serve a protective factor, they may sexually victimize the girls
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Girls in Gangs
- Exiting the gang
- Growing up
- Pregnancy
- Opportunities for employment/education
- Incarcerated
- Jumped out
- Diminished involvement over time
- Girls who stay may continue participation and/or marry a gang member
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Violent Female Offenders
- Homicide
- Homicide offenses are in decline for both genders
- Females are more likely to kill a male victim
- Most commonly females kill their spouses, intimate partners, or children
- Portrayal by media popular culture
- Cases:
- Pamela Smart
- Casey Anthony
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mothers Who Kill Their Children
- Filicide
- Andrea Yates drowned her 5 children
- History of mental health issues
- Found not guilty by reason of insanity
- Categories of filicide
- Neonaticide: child killed within 24 hours of birth
- Infanticide: child killed within the first year of life
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mothers Who Kill Their Children
- Filicide
- Categories of infanticide
- Homicide committed for altruistic reasons (Yates)
- 2 themes
Pressure to be a good mother
Pressure of being the sole caretaker
- Psychotic offender
- Killing of an unwanted infant
- Accidental death
- Death of child used as revenge against another
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mothers Who Kill Their Children
- Filicide presents a challenge to cultural ideals of femininity and motherhood
- Mental illness makes it easier to understand
- Evidence of postpartum symptoms
- Court options
- Insanity defense
- Diminished capacity
- Guilty but mentally ill
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Reading 15
- Cracked Perspectives
- History of Crack Cocaine
- Introduced in 1983
- Crack Era and Marijuana/Blunt Era
- Women and Children in the Crack Era
- Concept of drug eras
- Reflects the fluctuations of disease epidemics but with an emphasis on the cultural aspects of the phenomenon
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Reading 15
- The Role of Disrupted Attachments
- Feminist pathways perspective
- Narrative Reflections
- Samples/Cohorts
- Females of color, low socioeconomic status, New York City metropolitan area
- Drug Involvement
- Drug Initiation
- Drug Use
- Drug-Related Activities
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Reading 15
- Family Relationships
- Family composition and structure
- Emotional Connections
- Discussion
- Gendered Nature of Drug Use
- Implications and Recommendations
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Reading 16
- Current Research
- Women and Crime
- Feminist Research
- Motivations for Entry Into Prostitution
- Susceptibility Model
- Exposure Model
- Methods and Data Collection
- Findings
- Age and Pathways into Prostitution
- Discussion
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e
© 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.
Mallicoat, Women and Crime: A Text/Reader 2e © 2015 SAGE Publications, Inc.