1.1.

Introduction and background of the study

Over the years, in every religious society, women have always been considered as
physically and mentally subordinate and unproductive to men. The trend might have
reduced somewhat in the 21st century due to the advent of media, women commissions,
NGOs, human rights organizations, etc. but we find reports of widespread violence against
the „creators of life‟, particularly in the backward and developing nations. This particular
term paper would concentrate on The situation of female criminality; causes and
consequences.Discrimination against the women is largely due to some inherent and
common social and religious factors in Bangladeshi society.

The term female criminality refers those kinds of crime which is committed only by female.
It was believed till a few decades ago that crime is predominately a male phenomenon and
the world of crime is only a male phenomenon and the world of crime is only a man‟s world.
The criminal behaviour of women has been studied less than that of men. This is partly
because women commit fewer crimes than men, especially violent offences, and also because
female aggression is typically carried out in private and domestic areas.

In Bangladesh, discrimination against the women is largely due to some inherent and
common social and religious factors. Similar to their Indian and Pakistani counterparts
(Muslims and non-Muslims alike), the Bangladeshi women have been subjected to unjust
local social taboos and norms. People still follow the ancient belief that women should only
be considered as child-bearers and housewives and as a result they are discriminated against
by parents, husbands and sons throughout their lives. The little attention that was given to
female offenders usually was limited to three contexts: (i). comparison that understood
women‟s lack of involvement in crime related to men; (ii). studies of prostitution; and (iii)
analyses of the depravity of violent women, the rational being that since normal women are
passive, the few women who do commit violent crime must be sick (Curran and Ranzetti:
2001). But, in contemporary age, female criminality is growing attention towards the readers
because of the nature of news published in popular media. The number of crime committed
by female is increased in recent days because of the marginal nature of women,
discrimination in family life and workplace environment and complex lifestyles (Islam and
Khatun: 2013) and impact of popular media (Siegel: 2007).

Beginning with the biological theory of Lombroso (1898), elaborated in the psychological
theory of Freud (1905, 1931, 1933), and modernized in the contemporary theory that
women‟s liberation causes female crime, a theoretical perspective has developed which claim
that female crime is product of the masculinization of female behavior. Female criminals are
more „masculine‟ than non-criminals females, biologically, psychologically, and socially. In
social psychological terms, female criminal behavior is a concomitant of role reversal (Weis,
1976).

1
In Bangladesh, women are involved in different types of crime such as: murder, child and
drug trafficking, prostitution, suicide, adultery, theft, robbery etc. But in some cases, in
occurrences of crime, women played as the partners of men or in some cases, both of male
and female played indirect roles in crime commission. Generally, the crimes in which women
hold responsibility are: family suppressing quarrel, abortion, affray, illegal black marketing,
and corruption. According to the Child Act, 2013, the crimes committed by an individual or a
group who are below 18 years are defined as Juvenile Delinquents‟ crimes. Relevant for this
article, we considered the female offenders who belong to the age groups of 18 years old or
more than 18 years. In the mid 1970s several factors converged to convince the public that
changes were occurring in the rate and nature of crime among women and the female
offenders also began to receive more attention during this time.

In early age the concept of female criminality was a unique matter to society because the
society was male dominated and the women had a little scope to contribute with the works of
men. The main duty was to house works and rearing children. As they couldn‟t go outside the
concept of crime was unknown to them and they were frightened to do any illegal work. But
due to the change of time and development in the field of science and technology the negative
and dominating attitude towards women began to disappear. Women represent the fastest
growing criminal population, growing by almost a third over the course of the 1990s, and
almost a third of all incarcerated women report having been on welfare in the period just prior
to their arrest. And yet despite this apparent dramatic increase in the criminal behavior of
poor women, the study of women‟s criminality remains in its infancy. Drawing on life course
theory, however, some feminist scholars are taking steps to address this hole in the literature,
and the most striking finding to emerge from the field of feminist criminology is that the best
predictor of female criminality is a history of sexual or physical abuse victimization.

In the last few years the rate of female criminality is increasing in our country in an alarming
rate and women are committing new types of crime and most of their crimes remain hidden
because it is very difficult for the law enforcement agency to detect them as they are adopting
new policy for committing crime. The chief type of female criminality in Bangladesh is drug
trafficking, goods trafficking, status offender, hijacking, cheating, theft, prostitutions etc.
.
1.2..Objective of the study
In my study I want to show the nature and pattern of female criminality : A criminological
analysis. My major objective of the study is how social economic factors and other factors
lead a female in our social environment to involve herself in criminality. The main objects
of our study is;

 To find out the social cause of female criminality.

 To know socio-economic and other factors of female criminality in our social
environment.
 To find out the pattern of female criminality round the world.
 To know about the nature of female crime in our social environment .

2
2. Review of Literature

There is several literature of female criminality where female delinquency is described in

different perspective and the cause of female criminality is discussed.

Cesare Lombroso, (1903)

The most investigated "difference" between the sexes was biological. Cesare Lombroso
(1903) identified the female physiognomy thought most likely to determine criminal
propensity. This was the new science of "criminal anthropology" matching the general
fascination with Darwinism and physical anthropology, where scientists sought pathological
and atavistic causes for criminal behavior. While he credited criminal women as being
stronger than men, the consequence was that prison would hardly affect them at all.
Lombroso concluded true female criminals were rare and showed few signs of degeneration
because they had “evolved less than men due to the inactive nature of their lives”. Lombroso
argued it was the females‟ natural passivity that withheld them from breaking the law, as they
lacked the intelligence and initiative to become criminal.

Sigmund Freud(1905)
Sigmund Freud theorized that all women experience penis envy and seek to compensate an
inferiority complex by being exhibitionistic and narcissistic, focusing on irrational and trivial
matters instead of being interested in building a just civilization. William I. Thomas (1907)
published Sex and Society in which he argued that men and women possessed essentially
different personality traits. Men were more criminal because of their biologically determined
active natures. Women were more passive and less criminally capable. In The Unadjusted
Girl (1923) he argued that as women have a greater capacity to love than men they suffer
more when they do not receive social approval and affection. The "unadjusted girls" are those
who use their sexuality in a socially unacceptable way to get what they want from life. The
female criminal forgoes the conventional rewards of domesticity by refusing to accept
prevailing modes of sexuality and seeks excitement, wealth, and luxury: a pursuit that may
conflict with the interests of the social group as it also exercises the freedom to pursue similar
goals.

Adler (1975)
Adler (1975) proposed that the emancipation of women during the 1970s increased economic
opportunities for women and allowed women to be as crime-prone as men. While "women
have demanded equal opportunity in the fields of legitimate Endeavour‟s, a similar number of
determined women have forced their way into the world of major crime such as white-collar
crime, murder, and robbery" (Adler, 1975: 3). She suggested that as women are climbing up
the corporate business ladder, they are making use of their 'vocational liberation' to pursue
careers in white-collar crime. But feminism has made female crime more visible through
increased reporting, policing and the sentencing of female offenders and, even then, the
statistical base is small in comparison to men. Carlen (1985) argues that Adler's 'new female
criminal' is cast as the 'biological female' who is essentially masculine.

3
The 'new female' criminal turns out to be the 'old maladjusted masculinist female' of
traditional criminology, rejecting her proper feminine role such as institutionalizing rather
than incarcerating women who commit 'male' offences such as robbery, i.e. Adler's 'sisters in
crime' appears to work within the frameworks of traditional criminology rather than a
feminist one. For an examination of gender in crimes of violence, (Alder,1975).

A debate in the recent criminology literature has focused on the handling of female offenders
as they are processed through the criminal justice system. There are two competing
perspectives. The chivalry or paternalism hypothesis which echoes the perception of female
inmates as victims, argues that women are treated more leniently than men at various stages
of the male-dominated justice process as a function of the male desire to protect the weaker
(Crew: 1991; Erez, 1992). The "evil women" hypothesis which parallels the female inmate as
subhuman perspective holds that women often receive harsher treatment than men in the
criminal justice system and suggests that this different treatment results from the notion that
criminal women have violated not only legal boundaries but also gender role expectations
(Chesney-Lind, 1984; Erez, 1992). Simon (1975) predicted that the criminal justice system
would start treating men and women offenders equally. There is mixed empirical evidence for
this emancipation or liberation thesis, and some would say that absolutely no empirical
evidence exists for it and the notion is discredited (Chesney-Lind & Pasko 2004).

Farrington and Morris (1983)

Farrington and Morris (1983) found some empirical evidence that women did receive less
severe punishments, but female offenders are far more likely to be first-time offenders, and to
have committed a less serious form of the relevant offence; they stole smaller or fewer items,
used less violence, and so on. Prior history of offending, and seriousness of offence, is
fundamental factors in determining severity of sentence, for any offender. Once these
variables are entered into the equation, it is possible to conclude that female offenders are not
being treated any differently from males in equivalent circumstances. However, the evidence
does suggest that married women with a caring role are more likely to be treated leniently.
This may be because they are expected to remain in the home to continue their dependent
"maternal" function. Unmarried women or those in unconventional relationships tended to
receive more harsh treatment, confirming a sentencing model based a cultural need to
reinforce gender roles within a framework of heterosexual marriage or family life.
Kruttschnitt (1982) who investigated the link between economic independence, informal
social control, and heavier sentences for women. In a study of convictions in a Californian
population in the 1970s Kruttschnitt found that sentence may differ with the extent to which a
woman is economically dependent upon someone else for her day-to-day existence: the more
dependent she is, the less severe her disposition. Thus, the degree to which a female offender
can be shown to be under informal social control may produce a lighter formal sentence.

4
Chapman (1980)
Chapman (1980) studied the connection between labor force participation, and revealed an
increase in female criminal activity during times of economic hardship. The smallest
increases in arrests coincided with periods of the greatest increase in economic activity with
the most common offence being that of shop lifting. These findings would seem to support a
theory of a relationship between employment and crime rather than that offered by the
'women's liberation thesis'. When times are good, the offending woman appears to stabilise
rather than escalate.

An absence rather than availability of employment opportunities (liberation thesis) would

seem a more plausible explanation for increases in female crime. Naffine (1987: 99) believes
the criminal woman's motive appears more rational and straight forward than manifesting her
gender-role concerns or seeking to compete with the criminal male.

Studies of patriarchy tend to look at everything from female membership in male-dominated

professions to the "rape culture" with promotes female victimization. The study of patriarchy
has also allowed feminists to uncover hidden forms of violence against women. For example,
feminist critiques of pedagogy (how teachers teach) have become quite common, as
education, particularly criminal justice education, becomes the domain for discovering
examples of male-dominated thinking and examples of the marginalization thesis (women
being reminded that they are only women, or men being reminded that they are bad - simply
because they are not women).

Robert k. Merton, Albert K. Cohen, and Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin (1938)

Strain Theories are criticized by feminists as betraying a double standard. When male
offenders commit a crime under certain conditions of opportunity blockage, their commission
of crime is somehow seen as a "normal" or functional response. When women commit crime,
Strain Theory views it as some sort of "weakness". Naffine (1987) probably represents the
best example of this critique, but there are other critiques, such as the characterization of
females as "helpmates" or facilitators of crime in the Strain Theories of Albert K. Cohen, and
Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin.

The research methodology in Social Learning Theories, such as Edwin Sutherland's

Differential Association Theory, is criticized for relying on male examples, using case studies
of males only, and being a male-dominated perspective that glamorizes the male criminal, or
at least the sociable, gregarious, active, and athletic characteristics of the male criminal.
Similarly, Social Control Theories, such as Hirsch‟s Social Bond Theory, focuses almost
exclusively on social class at the expense of gender and race.

Feminists therefore concluded that the failure of criminology to research the issue of female
criminality fairly either reflected a male-dominated discourse in which men primarily
research male issues, or betrayed the rigidity of male stereotypes which allowed men to
justify their prejudices with pseudoscience.

5
Carl Marx (1818-1883), Bonger Voltaire Rousseau, Beccaria and Bentham

The proposition that economic life is fundamental, and, therefore, has the determining
influence upon the social and cultural values is as old as the human civilization itself. This
connotes that economic factors influence the nature and form of all social patterns and
controls all other aspects of human life. Thus criminologists have tried to explained crime in
terms of economic determinism.

In the words of Carl Marx (1818-1883) economic conditions determine the general character
of social political and spiritual processes of life and with the change of foundations, the inter
superstructure is also rapidly transformed. Those who support this view concentrate on the
economic aspect of crime and analyses the impact of economic condition on criminality.
There assertion that economic forces have been interacting right from the inception of the
human society has a historical background.

It is well known that in early societies and in early times when the economic resources were
limited struggle for existence and survival for the fittest was the law of nature. There after as
the society advance increase in production yielded surplus as a result of which the system of
barter and exchange originated. Gradually money gained importance in human life so much
so that it has now become the sole determining factor of a person‟s social status in modern
society. Aristotle the Greek philosopher commented that crimes are commented not merely
fort the seek of meeting the necessities of life but also for acquiring superfluous things. He
believed that crimes are mostly committed because of the acquisitive tendency of man and his
greed for acquiring surplus wealth. Thinkers like Voltaire Rousseau, Beccaria and Bentham
has agreed that economic structure is one of the causes of criminality.

Simpson, (2000)
Simpson said that the increasing numbers of women involved in the criminal justice system
and the paucity of programs and services that are geared toward their needs, has prompted
criminal justice professionals to examine their sanctioning and supervision processes in terms
of gender. This justification ignores the fact that, women who do enter the justice system,
while fewer in number and less violent than their male counterparts, often become extensive
users of the system. In focusing on the overwhelming number of males in the criminal and
juvenile justice systems, programs, policies and services often fail to develop a diversity of
options for dealing with the gender and culturally-specific problems of female offenders
enmeshed in the system.

Marxist Smith ,(1980)

Marxist Smith in her seminal article “Women, crime and deviance”, “In capitalist social
structure, females commit crime as a result of their socialization process.” (Ahuja 1996: 114).
The real conditions of the aforementioned causes induce the female gradually toward a
marginalization position and, as a result, females commit more crimes for their economic
need. On the other hand, feminist theorists emphasized on the early childhood experience of
women‟s physical and sexual torture and relate this to female offending.

6
Rita J. Simon (1975)

Rita J. Simon said that her book Women and Crime. She emphasized the descriptions of
different dimensions of female criminality, that is - type, nature and also the corrective role of
jail and court in this regard. She showed that there is no difference between male and female
in terms of morality, the biological characteristics not being relevant for committing crime.
According to the empirical observations of this theory, she argued that historically, males are
more active in crime because of their greater social opportunities, competences, and
networking than females.Simon logically argued that “when more women get access in labor
market as skilled labor and possess highly specialized positions in the job sector they commit
more employment related property crime than men. Some women take the advantage of these
opportunities, just as some men did before. On the other hand, she logically comments that,
“If women become more skilled and educated, they will be economically independent in
future.” Consequently, the rate of violent crime of female will be reduced since women
generally commit violent acts against their husbands or inmate partners. When women
become more educated and independent they will be more able to resolve these often volatile
situations in other less violent ways. This is where the masculinity theory differs from the
opportunity theory. This point is often missed by researchers who link the two theories
together as one, and labeling them as the liberation or gender equality theory. Overall, the
opportunity theory predicts that increasing opportunities of women reduce the rates of violent
female offending, but increase the rates of property female offending, especially
larceny/theft, embezzlement, fraud, and forgery.

Chesney-Lind (1997)

Chesney-Lind said that To find out the causes of the majority of female criminality it has
been seen that their position is marginalized by less salary, unrespectful occupation and less
secured job. Generally, they commit less property related crime. Women are motivated to
commit crime as a rational response to poverty and economic insecurity. This theory argues
that the major causes of female crime are unemployment, poorly paid employment,
inadequate welfare payments, and the increasing number of female headed households with
large number of children.

Harrington and Nee (2005)

He argued that As women become more liberal in their thinking and work, this helps them to
integrate the male characteristics of being aggressive, pushy, and hardheadedness in their
personalities. Women learn to utilize crime as a means of acquiring success and wealth, and
thus they become more violent. One idea has been reflected here according to which different
socialization processes trigger much more differences between male and female- which is a
more significant cause for crime than the biological traits. if the masculine characteristics are
the only responsible factor for crime, then why don‟t all men commit crime? For these
reasons, beyond biological explanation, there has developed a type of masculinity theory
based on socio-structural explanation, which focuses on the relationships between crime and
the masculine characteristics of women.
7
Pollock (1998)

He said that female criminality typically point to some elements of opportunity, need, or
both, in women‟s entry into crime. She argues that because social structures put more barriers
in front of women‟s criminal opportunities, women offender‟s lives may be different from
those of law-abiding women. This would explain, for example, the fact that women offenders
have histories of sexual and/or physical abuse which appear to be “instigators of delinquency,
addiction and criminality”. Additionally, while personal relationships (e.g., marriage, family)
may generally serve to prevent law breaking by females, the relationships of women
offenders with men are often abusive, exploitive, and/or the pathway to substance abuse and
related criminal activity.

Bonta,Pang, & Wallace-Capretta, (1995)

They argued that Historically, theories of female criminality ranged from biological to
psychological and from economic to social. Much of the literature attempts to explain female
criminality by focusing on women‟s (and girls‟) deviant behavior -- that is behavior that does
not conform to traditional female stereotypes. The female “deviant” is deemed to be more
deviant than her male counterpart. She experiences greater stigmatization when she
transgresses gender standards and in some cases, faces harsher punishment. For example, the
criminalization of pregnant, chemically dependent women raises issues related to their
suitability for motherhood. The criminal justice system response to women‟s law breaking
has often been that of moral reform.

Barbara E. Bloom & Stephanie S. Covington(1998)

The neglect of women in criminal justice research has been justified on the grounds that they
account for only a small fraction of arrests and commit fewer crimes than males. This
justification ignores the fact that, women who do enter the justice system, while fewer in
number and less violent than their male counterparts, often become extensive users of the
system. In focusing on the overwhelming number of males in the criminal and juvenile
justice systems, programs, policies and services often fail to develop a diversity of options for
dealing with the gender and culturally-specific problems of female offenders enmeshed in the
system. Additionally, while research indicates that community-based programs may be
successful in dealing with the problems of female delinquents, few programs target the
specific needs of girls and young women.

Weis, (1976)
He described that women‟s liberation causes female crime, a theoretical perspective has
developed which claim that female crime is product of the masculinization of female
behavior. Female criminals are more „masculine‟ than non-criminals females, biologically,
psychologically, and socially. In social psychological terms, female criminal behavior is a
concomitant of role reversal .

8
3. Methodology
The study is mainly qualitative in nature and is based on secondary materials (available
literature).Mainly relevant theories of female criminality has been reviewed from available
and accessible books, articles etc. Besides, data and information have been collected from
available secondary sources such as journal articles, research reports, books, newspaper and
periodicals. Furthermore, the contents has been analyzed descriptively and a comparative
analysis of the theories has been done to describe the nature and pattern of female criminality.

4. Findings

Nature and Causes of female criminality

Women in Bangladesh and around the world are not a homogenous group; they belong to the
rich, middle and poor classes and are from different cultural and ethnic minority groups. They
are also differentiated by rural and urban settings. In Bangladesh and around the world
women are committed to different crime such as, prostitution, exhibitionism and abortion,
violent crimes, robbery and aggravated assault, burglary and ordinary crimes, domestic
violence and sexual disturbances, property crime etc. major causes of crime commission are
socio economic factor, prejudice, economic vulnerability, unconsciousness, psychological
disorder, cultural factor, educational factor etc. Different scholars described different factor
for nature and causes of female crime.

Socio economic factor

According to Freda Adler, he described on female crime on his book, “Sisters in
Crime”(1970). His books focus on the correlation between the social and economic role of
women in the society and female criminality. He claims that when the social status of women
provides parity with men, their crime patterns and frequency will more seem like those of
their male counterparts. He focused on the association between the startling rise in female
criminality and the women‟s liberation movement and new feminism. He described new
feminism as a “consciousness-raising” movement and he predicted that, as women drew
closer to men socially, they would become more equal on all counts in criminality as well
(Flowers, 1987: 101).

According to South and Messner, Both theoreticians that try to explain female criminality via
the demographic structure of the society and the share of males and females in the population
Apart from the approaches explaining female criminality through the liberation of women,
biological factors and power-control theories. there is a relationship between the position of
females in society and the sex rate in the population. They had three assumptions:
1) In societies with a low percentage of females, females are rarely injured in comparison to
societies with a high percentage of females, because they are viewed as more important and
valuable.
2) In societies with a low percentage of females, sexual harassment of females is punished
seriously.

9
3) Since unbalanced distribution of sex rates in a population influences the role and status of
females in society, it also affects their own crime rates .
In their study, South and Messner have found a meaningful correlation between the
socioeconomic development and the exposure of women to homicide and theft crimes
(Menokan, 1996: 30).

According to Pollak, he believes that sociological factors are determinant when considering
female criminality. “The Criminality of Women” was published by Pollak to define female
criminality during postwar years. His combined data from a comprehensive survey of
American, British, French and German literature. Utilizing the international statistics, he tries
to examine whether the criminality rate among women will rise as the social and economic
equality between sexes improves, and tries to make an international comparison. However,
there are problems with his study. For example, he assumed that the sociocultural and
socioeconomic structure of each country included in the sample was the same. As a result, he
concluded that the rise in the rate of the social participation of women resulted in a rise in
crimes against property (Icli, 2004: 367). He was influenced by Lombroso and Freud to
conclude that female criminality is primarily sexually motivated. His second assumption is
that the crime rate among women is probably equal to that of men, but that female criminality
has a masked or hidden character. For, Pollak, females‟ crimes are inadequately reflected in
the statistics. he agreed with Lombroso that women are particularly addicted to crimes that
are easily concealed and rarely reported. He gave an example of exhibition as a crime that
frequently occurs among females but is not prosecuted. He claimed that the traditional roles
assigned to women by culture are ideal for hiding crimes such as sexual offenses against
children, and that women are more deceitful than men in their commission of crimes
(Flowers, 1987:97).

According to Steffensmeier, In the early 1980s, he also paid attention to the question of
rationality, but through a gendered lens. He looked at an organization‟s criminal enterprises
in the context of sex-segregation in the underworld. He suggested that rationality refers to the
link of means to ends, or the extent to which expeditious means are used to achieve goals,
and with specific regards to women. He explained women are less into crime and are
relatively less successful because they lack access to organizations and social contacts that
would enable them to pursue criminal enterprise more safely and profitably (Steffensmeier,
1983: 1025).

According to Sally Simpson, he argued The simplistic notion that males are violent and
women are not contains a grain of truth, but it misses the complexity and texture of women's
lives. Such avoidance encourages a backlash effect where some investigators feel challenged
to prove that women are just as violent as men , it contributes to the fiction that women who
are violent unless responding to a violent partner must be extraordinary freaks, it denies
women any agency or choice in their lives, but perhaps most crucially for them, it leaves
society and the justice system with little understanding of their behavior, or guidance on how
we should react to, or help them.(Rock.1996).

10
According to Rita J. Simon, she described on female crime on her book, “The Contemporary
Woman and Crime (1970)”. She made a contribution to studies of female criminality with a
detailed summary of the contemporary women‟s movement. Simon introduced the potential
relation of demographic and labor force variables to female criminality and the impact the
women‟s movement had in altering the treatment of women within the criminal justice
system. For Simon, due to the increase of women‟s participation in labor force, their
opportunity to commit certain types of crime also increased. This means that women have no
greater store of morality than do men. Both men and women have the same propensities to
commit crimes, but opportunities for women had been more limited. When their opportunities
to commit crime increased, they committed crimes more often (Simon, 1975: 48).

According to Carlen, Klein and Kress , Carlen work also made occasional reference to
women offenders acting rationally. He has identified characteristics belonging to female
offenders. The main characteristic identified is economic rationality. Women use rationality
as a form of escape from economic dependency and economic hardship. Carlen presents
examples of different female crimes (Carlen, 1985: 56). Klein and Kress affirmed that
rationality may not be an entirely male preserve. In the study “Etiology of Female Crime”,
Klein develops a concept of “legacy of sexism” to explain the way in which boys are
“instrumental” whilst girls are “expressive.” Klein and Kress criticize the fact that men and
boys have always been credited with committing crimes for a whole variety of reasons. In
addition to being lead a stray, or being sick or evil, males have also been simultaneously
viewed as rational (Davies, 1999: 3).

Psychological factor

According to Burt, Healy and Bonger, They try to explain the difference by associating it
with some psychological features. Burt argues that females commit fewer numbers of crimes
due to dominant feelings like tenderness, forgiveness and fear. Bonger suggests that women
are far psychologically stronger than men, and thus their participation in crime is far lower
than that of men. According to Bonger, in the post-World War II period, a small proportion
of women have participated in economic crimes due to economic deprivation (Icli,2004:
370). However, there are also studies arguing that women are far more disconcerting than
men and psychological problems are more common in women than in men, and that, due to
these reasons, women more commonly feel desperation than men do. The fact that women are
more suspicious than men may as well be a factor that might lead to female criminality
(Rhone, 1986: 313-315).

According to Glueck and Glueck, (1974: 20-23). They compared their backgrounds on
female criminality, social histories and physical and psychological traits. Their main
objective was to determine what factors led to female deviance. They found that female
criminality resulted in large part from biological and economic factors and an extremely high
percentage of delinquent girls came from abnormally large families, were mentally defective
and had been arrested mainly for sexual behavior. They also found that criminality was likely
to be intergenerational.
11
Biological factor

According to Lombroso, he analysis about female crime his book, “Female

Offender”,(1895). He argues that women, as required by their nature, are in fact the defenders
of the social order and that the mentioned harmonization forces them to adopt and to be
overwhelmed by the social order. It is also argued that women participate in criminal
behavior due to some physical incompatibilities. For the internal physio-chemical
characteristics, the females are more conservative and play a neutral role, consequently,
committing less crime than males (Lombroso and Ferraro 1895). Lombroso argues that
criminality is principally the product of inconsistent and altered thought of women, related to
their indirect role in domestic affairs (Cf. Simpson, 2000: 4).

According to W.I. Thomas, he described on female criminality in his books, “Sex and
Society”(1907), He suggested that any differences in intellectual functioning between the
sexes were not a result of brain size, or biological differentials as Lombroso affirmed, but
were socially influenced. Thomas divided the sexes into katabolic and anabolic dimensions.
For him, men were katabolic, or more rapid consumers of energy, whereas women were
anabolic, representing the more constructive part of the metabolic process because they
stored energy, as the plants did.All the properties of anabolism and katabolism were
indicative of social behavioral differences between the sexes. However, in The Unadjusted
Girl, published in 1923, Thomas established a break from Lombroso and his own first book.
He explored the influences of the social environment on deviant behavior and advanced four
basic desires for every human: the desires for security, recognition, new experience and
response. Criminality was the desire for new experience. Criminality was the desire for new
experience. A woman entered prostitution to satisfy a desire for excitement and response
(Flowers, 1987: 95).

Educational factor

According to the study of Guttentag and Secord, women are protected more in societies
where the percentage of females in the population is low, since their role as mothers and
wives are prioritized more highly. On the other hand, in the societies where female
population is higher in number, marriage age is low and fertility rate is high, while the
education opportunities for women are extremely limited (Icli, 2004: 369).
According to Chesney-Lind and Pasko, they contend that girls‟ and women‟s crime „is deeply
affected by women‟s place‟ in society. Their view is that women who offend are
marginalized and poor, having had little opportunity for formal education and/or the
development of job skills. The offending profile of women of all ages is significantly
different to men. Their Research shows that women are more likely to commit minor
offences such as property, fraud, theft and deception. They state that the „war on drugs has
translated into a war on women‟. It is hard to argue with this point given that many women
are imprisoned for short periods of time for drug related offences. On the other hand it could
be argued that „war‟ implies intent (an easy feminist assumption), whereas what has
happened might be an unintended consequence (Chesney-Lind and Pasko ,2004, p. 100).
12
Cultural factor

According to Cohen, the reason that women commit fewer crimes than men is that the
subculture they belong to is different than that of men. Even when they live in the same
village or quarter, the interpretations about the criminality of women and men and the
subcultures created by these interpretations are quite different. The faults of women are less
tolerated. The education women receive in the society is more repressive than that received
by men. The mentioned education continues to be given in the family, neighborhood and at
school in different intensities. One of the most determinative factors for women creating their
own subcultures with regards to female criminality is the family. Because of this, most of the
recently conducted studies focus on the families of female criminals. (Icli 2004: 371-374).

According to Shell, he described females are less likely than males to become repeat
offenders. Long-term careers in crime are very rare among women. Female offenders, more
often than males, operate solo. Three out of four violent female offenders committed simple
assault When women do become involved with others in offenses, the group is likely to be
small and relatively nonpermanent. And males are overwhelmingly dominant in the more
organized and highly lucrative crimes, whether based in the underworld or the “upper world.”
Females are far less likely than males to become involved in delinquent gangs. This
distinction is consistent with the tendency for females to operate alone and for males to
dominate gangs and criminal subcultures (Shell, 1999: 1).

Patterns of female criminality around the world

In Bangladesh, women commit more serious crime than their male counterpart, research
showed that women commit more violent crime than any other types of crime. Females are
committed to six types of crimes: violent, property related crimes, organized crimes,
victimless, hate and public order crime. In Bangladesh, on the basis of percentage
distributions, female have committed more violent crime (66%) than any other crimes in
2012. Among the violent crimes, female have participated in murder or attempt to murder
(65.2%), assault/collision (10.6%), grievous hurt and hurt (11.3%), and abduction/attempt to
abduction (6.9%).Females are also indulging in suicide with children (1.8%) and adultery
(1.8%). Recently, the rate of adultery or illegal sexual relation is increasing in Bangladesh
because of the spreading of the consumerist culture and feeling in the society. As a result, the
possibilities of becoming a victim are increasing both in females and males. A maximum of
24.4% female criminals indulge in cheating/fraud/forgery, in smuggling (14.3%), robbery /
dacoity / looting (10.1%). Females are also involved in corruption (8.2%), snatching/showing
weapon (8.1%), note forgery and trafficking (6.1%), bribery/illegal storage (8.2%).
Sometimes females participate independently for acquiring properties, or participate in crime
commission as partners of males. involvement of females incrime commission is increasing
in the case of drug-trafficking / trafficking (86.5%), stock-holding (5.8%), terroristic /
militant violence (5.8%) and illegal arms trafficking or organized crime. In other studies,
27% of female criminals are involved in drug trafficking and 14.8% female - in organized
crime, such as women and child trafficking (Islam and Khatun (2013).
13
In England and Wales, 33 percent of female criminality is related to indictable offenses.
Among these, theft and handling were the most common activities (59 percent), followed by
drugs (12 percent) and violence against the person (9 percent) (Heindensohn, 1997: 495-495).
In Britain, the rate of increase of arrested females was greater than the increase for males.
Between 1984 and 1994, the numbers of women in federal prisons jumped by 258 percent,
compared to 169 percent for men (Chesney Lind, 1997: 146).

In the USA, the female share of crime increased 32 percent between 1975 and 1995. Arrest
rates for girls in the US increased more rapidly than those for boys in the last two decades of
the 20th century. Between 1981 and 1998, those rates grew by over 100 percent for all violent
crimes, by over 160 percent for aggravated assault and 200 percent for weapons offenses
(Heindensohn, 1997: 495-495). The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has noted that arrests
of girls for murder were up 64.2 percent, for robbery by 114 percent and for aggravated
assault by 42 percent between 1985 and 1994. Only 2.1 percent of girls were arrested for
serious crimes in 1985. By 1994, the rate of girls arrested for serious crimes climbed to 3.4
percent (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1995: 222).

In Turkey, One of the first studies conducted in relation to crime in Turkey is the study
carried out by the Turkish Statistical Institute in 1972. The Survey on “Female and Youth
Convicts “shows that female criminals generally commit their crimes between the ages of 22
and 39, predominantly live in city centers and are most commonly convicted of homicide and
thievery. Twenty percent of the female convicts had only completed primary school, 30
percent had completed middle school and 12 percent had graduated from high school, while
the remaining subjects received no education (İçli, 2004: 374).

In Barbados, The conviction rates of people aged 15 to 29 were examined for the years 1990,
1992 and 1994. The data in Barbados revealed that the conviction rate for males is
substantially higher than the rate for females for all three years. there was an increase for both
sexes in those found guilty of a crime in 1992, when the rates were unusually high, followed
by a decrease in 1994. The most pronounced and consistent increase for both sexes was in
convictions for minor assaults breaches of the peace, which increased by 161 % for males,
and by 185% for females between 1990 and 1994. In contrast, convictions for drug offences
fell for both sexes between 1990 and 1992. Between 1990 and 1994, however, the rate of
convictions for drug related offences for males increased by 1 13%, while the conviction rate
for women remained lower than in 1990. The difference between the conviction rates of men
and women increased for both minor offences and drug offences, but this absolute difference
in conviction rates decreased for crimes against the person, owing to a decrease in the
conviction rates of males between 1990 and 1994. No females were convicted for offences
against the person in any of the years investigated. Perhaps what is more important is that the
overall ratio of male to female rates of conviction remained relatively unchanged from 1990
to 1994. In general, the level of female convictions and the type of crimes women are
convicted for has remained more or less constant over the years, and (Ramoutar Karen
,2011).

14
In Nigeria, Women suffered untold hardship as they toiled to feed the family. Some ended up
stealing and committing all sorts of crime as a result of hardship. The war gave way to the oil
boom. The money from the oil boom facilitated corruption on a larger scale, as there was
increased desire for material possession by the people. Those who could not cope with the
struggle hence lived in poverty in the midst of plenty. In Nigeria most of these crimes by
women are under-reported or not reported at all. Some times they are closed before they get
to prosecution stage by relations or friends who feel that women should not be disgraced
publicly. Law enforcement agencies themselves appear to be ineffective sometimes in dealing
with crime situations. Most of these crimes, particularly white-collar crimes are under-
reported, under-recorded and suffer a lot of attrition in the hands of the
police(Chukuezi,2006).

In Scotland , The research showed that over 90 percent of women in prison had left school at
age 16 or under. Three-quarters of them had a history of truancy, and 61 percent of them had
no qualifications when they left school (Loucks, 2004:146). A 1993 study shows the
relationship between school experience during early and late adolescence and criminality.
School performance has been found to be the best and most stable predictor of adult
offending rates. Poor school performance and a weak bond to school will increase the
probability of misbehavior in school which, in turn, provokes disciplinary reactions. A higher
level of adolescent delinquency and adult offending may be occurring in recent years (Le
Blanc and Mac Duff, 1993: 462-465). Another research in Scotland (Inspectorates of Prisons
and Social Work Services 1998) claimed that the vast majority of women in prison had been
direct or indirect victims of physical, sexual or emotional abuse and some of them had
experienced a combination of these. In total, 82 percent had suffered some form of abuse and
66.7 percent were directly aware of the abuse of others who were close to them (Loucks,
2004: 145).

5. Conclusion and Recommendation

Above all, on the basis of the theoretical explanation of female offending in Bangladesh, the
following conclusions may be drawn up. Firstly, “female characteristics and participate i
proposition of Adler‟s masculinity many cases inconsistent in the context of Bangladesh.
Female are engaging with crime in Bangladesh as a result of their repeated victimization
inside the family or society.

Secondly, Rita J. Simon‟s opportunistic theory in Bangladesh females have fewer

opportunities to participate in the formal economic sector, which leads to committing violent
crimes instead of property related crime. Thirdly, in case of reported crime, it is shown that
females are committing severe crimes more than less serious crime. As a result, the chivalry
theory is not applicable in the context of Bangladesh. Lastly, familial conflict, increased
separation rate, continuous victimization and disparity in the economic sectors forced women
to marginal position in a society. Consequently, female are engaging more with crime than in
the past. So, considering the findings of the study from theoretical perspectives, in the
explanation of female offending, the marginalization theory of Chesney-Lind is more
empirically valid.
15
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Islam, Jahirul. Khatun, Nurjahan. (2013). On the etiology of Female Offending in

Bangladesh: Toward a Quest for the Alternative Explanation, European Academic Research,
Vol-1, Issue-4 (July).

Adler, Freda, Gerhard. O. W. Mueller, and William S. Laufer )2004(. Criminology, 5th
Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Adler, Freda (1975). Sisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal. USA: McGraw
Hill Company.

Ahuja, Ram(1996). Sociological Criminology. New Delhi: New Age International Publishers
Limited.

Banerjee, Subrata.(2010). “Nature and Causes of female criminality.” Dept. of Criminology

and Police Science, Tangail: MBSTU.

Carlen, P. (1988). Women, Crime and Poverty. Bristol: Open University Press.

Celik, Hande(2008). A Sociological Analysis of Women Criminals in the Denizli Open

Prison Department of Sociology, Turkey: Middle East Technical University.

Chesney-Lind, Meda(1986). “Women and Crime‟: The Female Offender.” Sign 12(1): 78-96.

Datesman, Susan K., Frank. R. Scrapitti, and Richard M.Stephenson. (1975). “Female
Delinquency: An Application of Self and Opportunity Theories.” Journal of Research in
Crime and Delinquency 12(2): 107-123.

Flowers,Ronald B. (1995). Female crime, criminals, and cellmates: An exploration of female

criminality and delinquency. London: Mcfarland.

Herrington, Victoria, and Claire Nee (2005). “Self-Perception, Masculinity and Female
Offenders.” Internet Journal of Criminology 1-30.

Pollak, O. (1950). Criminality of Women. Baltimore: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Simpson, Sally S. (2000). Of Crime and Criminality: The Use of Theory in Everyday Life
California: Pine Forge Press.

Small, Kevonne. (2000). “Female Crime in the United States (1963-1998): An Update.”
Gender Issues Summer: 75-90.

Steffensmeier, Darrell, and Emilie Allan. (1996). “Gender and Crime: Toward a Gendered
Theory of Female Offending.” Annual Review of Sociology 22: 459-487.

Sullenger, T. Earl. (1937). “Female Criminality in Omaha.” Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology (1931-1951) 27(5) (Jan.-Feb.,1937): 706-711.

16
Henggeler, Scott W., James Edwards, and Charles M. Borduin. (1987). “The Family relations
of female juvenile delinquents.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 15(2): 199-209.

James, Jennifer, and William Thornton. (1980). “Women‟s Liberation and the Female
Delinquent.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 17(2): 230-244.

Henggeler, Scott W., James Edwards, and Charles M. Borduin. (1987). “The Family relations
of female juvenile delinquents.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology15(2): 199-209.

Covington, Jeanette. (1985). “Gender Differences in Criminality among Heroin Users.”

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 22(4): 329-353.

Curran, Daniel. J. and Renzetti, Claire. M. (2001). Theories of Crime, Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.

Freud, Sigmund. (1933). New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. New York: Norton.

Icli, T., “Sosyal Degisme Surecinde Kadın Suçlulugu”, Hacettepe Universitesi, Edebiyat
Fakultesi Dergisi, Cilt.5, Sayı, 2, p.17-32, (1988).

Icli, T., Turkiye‟de Suclular, Sosyo, ekonomik ve Kulturel ozellikleri, Bizim Buro Basımevi,
Ankara, (1920).

Heidensohn, Frances. and Marisa. Silvestri. (1995). Gender and Crime, in Oxford Handbook
of Criminology, London: Oxford University Press.

Klein, Dorie. (1973). “The Etiology of Female Crime: A Review of Literature.” Issues in
Criminology 8, 2:3-30.

Simon, Rita James. (1975). Women and Crime. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books.

Weis, Joseph G. (1976). Liberation and crime: the invention of the new female criminal
Crime and Social Justice, No. 6 (fall-winter), pp. 17-27.

Kevonne. (2000). Female Crime in the United States (1963-1998): An Update, Gender Issues,
(Summer), P. 75-90.

Chukuez, Comfort O. Female Criminality in Nigeria: A Historic Review , Bangladesh e-

Journal of Sociology. Volume 3. Number 2. (July 2006).

17