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
Female Violence

• Gender convergence for crimes of violence are
  detected in some official arrest data but not in
  self-report data
• Women who act out violently are often involved in
  criminal lifestyles
• Women who act out violently often have histories
  of trauma abuse

8
Female Homicide

• Historically, 10 to 20 of all homicides are
  committed by women
• Victims are usually their male partners
• Gender divergence detected in womens use of
  lethal violence
• Women perpetrated homicide data finds that
  womens higher SES reduces likelihood of
  offending
• Number of men ( women) killed by their intimate
  partners is on the decline

9
Female Homicide

• Men and women are equally at risk of killing
  their children but infants are most at risk of
  being killed by their mothers
• Most women who kill their babies are young
  mothers trying to conceal a pregnancy and/or
  sudden and impulsive acts
• Maternal infanticide is often linked to
  postpartum psychosis
• Familial-social structures can also put babies at
  risk

10
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