Women Incarcerated in 1960,1970,and 1980

Abstract

Changes in the population of female prisoners at a local reformatory over a 20-year period were investigated by comparing demographic, educational, and personality characteristics of women admitted to the reformatory in 1960, 1970, and 1980. Although the data suggested an increase in more violent crimes over time, comparable differences on other variables were largely absent. Women admitted to the reformatory in 1980 did not differ from women admitted in 1960 in age, educational level, mental ability, or MMPI scores. Women admitted in 1970 did obtain higher achievement scores, but it was concluded that the characteristics of this prison population had remained relatively stable, thus increasing confidence in the relevance and usefulness of earlier research in developing a model of female criminality.