Women Offenders
The reasons why women commit crimes have long been a fascination for criminologists. This is mainly because criminal behavior is most commonly thought of as a male behavior.
General Theories
Lombroso and Freud see female criminals as biologically or psychologically male-oriented. According to Lombroso, female criminals possess the superfluous peculiarities of males, and, biologically, they are actually more similar to males than females. Freud argued that criminality in women arises from so-called "penis envy". Supposedly, some women cannot stand to realize that they do not have a penis. This results in criminal behavior.
Other theorists assert that there is increased masculinity in female offenders while other say they observed certain female peculiarities.
A study by Eleanor and Sheldon Glueck claims that the inability of women to control their sexual impulses results in female criminality.
The Criminality of Women
Otto Pollack, in his book, The Criminality of Women, exclaims that a mix of biological, psychological, and sociological factors, along with gender inequality, results in female crime. This book was considered a seminal work on female crime before the modern period that challenged the pre-conceived notions on the importance, extent, and quality of the criminal behavior of women.
He was the first writer to insist that women's involvement in crime is close to that of men and is in proportion with the population. Crimes committed by women, e.g. shoplifting, thefts, abortion, etc., are not visible on the crime statistics due to the following reasons:
- they are easily concealed
- their crimes go unreported because male victims are embarrassed of having been victimized by a female criminal
- "male chivalry" in the justice system
Pollack further noted the overlapping causes of delinquency between males and females and emphasized the significance of social and environmental factors including the detrimental effect of serving time at rehabilitation facilities.
He was also concerned about the effects of biological and physiological factors on female criminality, including the influences of hormonal and generative phases, i.e. menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. He concluded that biological and psychological factors play a vital role in female crime, but earlier studies have also shown that sociocultural factors are also involved.
Other Theories
The following theories on women offending are based on literature from the 1960's to the mid-1980's. They depict the male-orientation and misogynism of Western thought.
- Strain Theory claims that criminality is an expression of financial strain in males, but emotional strain on females
- Social Learning Theory alleges that offending is learned from criminal groups from which women are excluded
- Masculinity Theory declares that offending is a symbol of masculinity and therefore not suitable for women
- Conformity and Social Control Theory Conformity is acting in accordance with the norms of a certain group. Social Control Theory asserts that the commission of crime is the result of weak social bonds.
- Labeling Theory argues that women, who are generally physically weaker than men, struggles to be recognized by resorting to the commission of crime
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