The experiences of women and crime

Abstract

In the last chapter we looked at the problems and issues connected with female criminality. These were conceptualised in formal, official terms using statistical records and academic techniques. But how do women involved in crime see the issues? Do they try to make sense of the world and seek causal explanations in the way that professional carers or social scientists do? In this chapter I want to present some personal accounts by women criminals. Not surprisingly, since we saw that women’s criminal achievements were modest and mundane, there are not really any villains’ autobiographies nor have many studies recorded the perceptions of deviant women.