ABSTRACT
It is not correct to state that women have been entirely ignored in the study of crime and deviance. Women do constitute a topic in the existing criminological literature; however, the quality of the work which does address the question of female criminality leaves much to be desired. Studies which make some kind of reference to women may be divided into two categories, namely those which make an explicit reference to female criminality and those in which the topic is left implicit. I have dealt with studies which refer explicitly to female criminality in some detail. The limitations of the majority of these studies arise as a result of a basic inadequacy in the perception of the nature of women and a reliance upon a determinate model of female behaviour. Such studies (cf. Lombroso and Ferrero, 1895; Cowie, Cowie and Slater, 1968) presume an inherent and ‘natural’ distinction exists between the temperament, ability and conditionability of women and men and recourse is made to this premise to explain female criminality. Other studies (cf. Pollak, 1961) perpetuate the myth of the evil woman whose physiology is the source of her ability to deceive and manipulate, whilst work also exists (cf. Greenwald, 1958; Gibbens, 1957; Glover, 1969) which draws upon the ‘feminine psyche’ to account for female criminality under the assumption that any rejection of the traditional female role, as in criminal behaviour, is indicative of a personality disorder. The essence of all these studies is that women are treated as fundamentally and qualitatively different from men. Of course there are differences but those differences which exist and which are relevant to an understanding of criminal behaviour are culturally determinate rather than a reflection of the natural qualities of the sexes. This type of analysis of female offenders is not peculiar to male criminologists; incredibly even those studies which are written, or partially written, by women (cf. Cowie et al., 1968; Richardson, 1969) contain derogatory and sexist attitudes about women. Unfortunately this tendency for women sociologists and criminologists to support the prevailing, male-oriented ideology merely serves to perpetuate that ideology and even lends it greater credibility.
