The review aims to deliberate upon the incentives involved in criminal behavior perpetrated by women offenders in the Indian context. Statistical data denote rising trends in criminal behavior among females with respect to various types of criminal behaviors being executed by female perpetrators in the recent past and present times. There exists a discrepancy between male and female criminal behavior on the basis of the motivation behind criminal acts, neurobiological substrates involved, and dispositional traits responsible for crime. The review attempts to explain the understanding behind such antisocial behavior by explaining links between psychopathology, psychosocial adversities, and female criminality. An insight into the Indian Justice system reveals the relevant history of gender justice and law in India. On the one hand, there has been law protecting the females, while on the other hand, practices of crime have demonstrated an over-advantageous misuse of laws in manipulation by female offenders. The national and international context of scope of intervention requires for an expansive and rehabilitative model for reducing delinquency among females. The intervention is required on a holistic level, dealing with emotional, social, economic, and psychological underpinnings of criminal behavior.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AcocaL. (1998). Defusing the time bomb: Understanding and meeting the growing health care needs of incarcerated women in America. NCCD News. 44, 49–69.
2.
AghaS. (2009). Structural correlates of female homicide: A cross-national analysis. J Crim Justice. 37, 576–585.
3.
AhujaR. (1996). Sociological Criminology. (New Age International Publishers, New Delhi, India.)
4.
BajpaiAB. (2005). Female Criminality in India. (Rawat Publications, Jaipur, India.)
5.
BeauchaineTP, HongJ, MarshP. (2008). Sex differences in autonomic correlates of conduct problems and aggression. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 47, 788–796.
6.
BhosleS. (2009). Female Crime in India and Theoretical Perspectives of Crime. (Gyan Publishing House, Delhi, India.)
7.
BlackDW, GunterT, AllenJ, et al. (2007). Borderline personality disorder in male and female offenders newly committed to prison. Compr Psychiatry. 48, 400–405.
8.
BlanchetteK, BrownSL. (2006). The Assessment and Treatment of Women Offenders: An Integrative Perspective. (John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.)
9.
BloomB, Chesney-LindM. (2000). Women in prison: Vengeful equity. In It's a Crime: Women Justice. MuraskinR, ed. (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ) pp. 183–204.
10.
BloomB, OwenBA, CovingtonS. (2003). Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and Guiding Principles for Women Offenders. (National Institute of Corrections, Washington, DC.)
11.
CherukuriS. (2008). Women in Prison: An Insight into Captivity and Crime. (Cambridge, Delhi, India.)
12.
Chesney-LindM, PaskoL. (2013). The Female Offender: Girls, Women, and Crime. (Sage Publications, London, United Kingdom.)
13.
CornetLJ, de KogelCH, NijmanHL, et al. (2014). Neurobiological factors as predictors of cognitive–behavioral therapy outcome in individuals with antisocial behavior: A review of the literature. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. 58, 1279–1296.
14.
CovingtonSS. (2007). Women and the Criminal Justice System. (Elsevier, France, France.)
15.
CurranDJ, RenzettiCM. (2001). Theories of crime. Pearson College Division.
16.
DenovMS. (2004). The long-term effects of child sexual abuse by female perpetrators: A qualitative study of male and female victims. J Interpers Violence. 19, 1137–1156.
DrezeJ, KheraR. (2000). Crime, gender, and society in India: Insights from homicide data. Popul Dev Rev. 26, 335–352.
19.
FerreroL. (1895). The Female Offender. (Fisher Unwin Press, London, United Kingdom.)
20.
ForouzanE, CookeDJ. (2005). Figuring out la femme fatale: Conceptual and assessment issues concerning psychopathy in females. Behav Sci Law. 23, 765–778.
21.
FreemanNJ, SandlerJC. (2008). Female and male sex offenders: A comparison of recidivism patterns and risk factors. J Interpers Violence. 23, 1394–1413.
22.
FreudS. (1933). New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. (Norton Press, New York, NY.)
23.
IslamA. (2013). Is there a gender bias in crime against firms for developing economies?. Womens Stud Int Forum. 37, 1–15.
24.
JespersenAF, LalumièreML, SetoMC. (2009). Sexual abuse history among adult sex offenders and non-sex offenders: A meta-analysis. Child Abuse Negl. 33, 179–192.
25.
KannabiranK, SinghR. (2008). Challenging the Rules (s) of Law: Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights in India. (Sage Publications, Inc., Delhi, India.)
26.
KaushikA. (2015). Ending exclusion of women for economic growth in Rajasthan: A feminist approach. J Govern Public Policy. 5, 67–71.
27.
KennealyPJ, HicksBM, PatrickCJ. (2007). Validity of factors of the psychopathy checklist—revised in female prisoners discriminant relations with antisocial behavior, substance abuse, and personality. Assessment. 14, 323–340.
28.
KhuranaS, SharmaN, JenaS, et al. (2004). Mental health status of runaway adolescents. Indian J Pediatr. 71, 405–409.
29.
KnepperP, YstehedeP. (2012). The Cesare Lombroso Handbook. (Routledge, London, United Kingdom.)
30.
LaGrangeTC, SilvermanRA. (1999). Low self‐control and opportunity: Testing the general theory of crime as an explanation for gender differences in delinquency. Criminology. 37, 41–72.
31.
MadhurimaN. (2009). Women Crime and Prisoners Life. (Deep and Deep Publishers, New Delhi, India.)
32.
ManiyarM. (2004). Women Criminals and their Life-Style. (Kaveri Books, Chennai, India.)
33.
McClellanDS. (1994). Disparity in the discipline of male and female inmates in Texas prisons. J Women Crim Justice. 5, 71–97.
34.
McClellanDS, FarabeeD, CrouchBM. (1997). Early victimization, drug use, and criminality a comparison of male and female prisoners. Crim Justice Behav. 24, 455–476.
35.
MoloneyKP, van den BerghBJ, MollerLF. (2009). Women in prison: The central issues of gender characteristics and trauma history. Public Health. 123, 426–430.
36.
MonahanJ, SteadmanHJ, SilverE, et al. (2001). Rethinking Risk Assessment: The MacArthur Study of Mental Disorder and Violence. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.)
37.
MorashM, BynumTS, Koons-WittB. (1998). Women Offenders: Programming Needs and Promising Approaches. (US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC.)
38.
MuncerS, CampbellA, JervisV, LewisR. (2001). Ladettes, social representations, and aggression. Sex Roles. 44, 33–44.
39.
NaffineN. (2015). Female Crime: The Construction of Women in Criminology. (Routledge, London, United Kingdom.)
OdgersCL, MorettiMM. (2002). Aggressive and antisocial girls: Research update and challenges. Int J Forens Ment Health. 1, 103–119.
43.
OdgersCL, MoffittTE, BroadbentJM, et al. (2007). Female and male antisocial trajectories: From childhood origins to adult outcomes. Dev Psychopathol. 20, 673–716.
44.
O'LearyMM, LoneyBR, EckelLA. (2007). Gender differences in the association between psychopathic personality traits and cortisol response to induced stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 32, 183–191.
45.
OldenburgVT. (2002). Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.)
46.
PollackS. (2004). Anti-oppressive social work practice with women in prison: Discursive reconstructions and alternative practices. Br J Soc Work. 34, 693–707.
47.
PollockJM, MullingsJL, CrouchBM. (2006). Violent women findings from the Texas women inmates study. J Interpers Violence. 21, 485–502.
48.
PollockJM, PolockJM. (1998). Counseling Women in Prison. (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.)
49.
RaoSV. (1981). Dynamics of Crime: Spatial and Socio-Economic Aspects of Crime in India. Indian Institute of Public Administration. (Delhi.)
50.
RuddJ. (2001). Dowry-Murder: An Example of Violence Against Women. Women Stud Int Forum. 24, 513–522.
51.
SalekinRT, RogersR, SewellKW. (1997). Construct validity of psychopathy in a female offender sample: A multitrait–multimethod evaluation. J Abnorm Psychol. 106, 576–585.
52.
SaxenaR. (1994). Women and Crime in India: A Study in Socio-Cultural Dynamics. (South Asia Books, Delhi, India.)
53.
SeveckeK, LehmkuhlG, KrischerMK. (2009). Examining relations between psychopathology and psychopathy dimensions among adolescent female and male offenders. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 18, 85–95.
SteffensmeierD, AllanE. (1996). Gender and crime: Toward a gendered theory of female offending. Annu Rev Sociol. 22, 459–487.
56.
StrandS, BelfrageH. (2005). Gender differences in psychopathy in a Swedish offender sample. Behav Sci Law. 23, 837–850.
57.
VandiverDM, KercherG. (2004). Offender and victim characteristics of registered female sexual offenders in Texas: A proposed typology of female sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse Res Treat. 16, 121–137.
58.
WarrenJI, BurnetteM, SouthSC, et al. (2002). Personality disorders and violence among female prison inmates. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 30, 502–509.
59.
WellischJ, PrendergastML, Douglas AnglinM. (1994). Drug-Abusing Women Offenders: Results of a National Survey. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. (New York, USA.)
60.
WilsonLC, ScarpaA. (2012). Criminal behavior: The need for an integrative approach that incorporates biological influences. J Contemp Crim Justice. 28, 366–381.
