This study of 120 women inmates of a state prison showed that sex-role orientation was related to the type of offence committed by women but, contrary to the hypothesis about the “new” female offender, violent offenders were more traditionally feminine than financial and drug-related offenders. Drug offenders had high rates of undifferentiated ratings. Women became more traditionally masculine or feminine with length of incarceration. Women who had children were more likely to score as traditionally feminine.
References
1.
AdlerF. (1975) Sisters in crime: the rise of the new female criminal.New York: McGraw-Hill.
2.
BemS. L. (1981) Bem Sex-role Inventory, professional manual.Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
3.
CampbellC. S.MacKenzieD. L., & RobinsonJ. W. (1987) Female offenders: criminal behavior and gender-role identity. Psychological Reports, 60, 867–873.
4.
CampbellC. S.RobinsonJ. W.MacKenzieD. L., & WinfreeT. L. (1988) The female inmate: gender schema and institutional career phase. Psychological Reports, 63, 177–178.
5.
ErezE. (1988) The myth of the new female offender: some evidence from attitudes toward law and justice. Journal of Criminal Justice, 16, 499–509.
6.
LasleyJ.KuhlA. F., & RobergR. R. (1985) Relationship of nontraditional sex-role attitudes to severity of women's criminal behavior. Psychological Reports, 56, 155–158.
7.
SimonR. J. (1975) The contemporary woman and crime.Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
8.
WeisJ. (1978) Liberation and crime: the invention of the new female criminal. In WickmanP. & WhittenP. (Eds.), Readings in criminology.Lexington, MA: Heath. Pp. 130–140.