Rebecca Block et al (2010)

Abstract

  • Focuses on the long-term patterns of offending in women, contrasting with the predominant male offender data.

  • Utilizes data from the Criminal Career and Life-Course Study on 432 women and 4,180 men who had criminal cases adjudicated in 1977.

  • Discusses various life-span patterns related to criminality, including prevalence, duration, and crime mix, suggesting implications for theory and practice.

Historical Context

  • Previous studies on women's criminal careers:

    • Glueck and Glueck (1934): 5-year follow-up post-parole.

    • Robins (1966): assessed children seen in a clinic into their 40s.

Notable Longitudinal Studies on Women's Criminality

  • Racine Birth Cohorts (Shannon, 1988): 799 children followed from age 6 to 25/30.

  • Kauai Longitudinal Study (Werner & Smith, 1992): Followed 505 children from birth to age 40.

  • National Youth Survey: Self-reports from ages 11 to 17 followed until ages 27 to 33.

  • Woodlawn Study: 28-year follow-up with 606 girls and 636 boys.

  • Pathways to Desistance Study: 1,354 adjudicated delinquents followed for 3 years.

Significance of Research

  • Very few studies extend into late adulthood, leaving gaps in understanding women's life-course perspectives on criminality.

  • Women's offending patterns need to be understood to address broader criminological theories.

Methodology

  • Analyzes a representative sample of individuals from the CCLS study, assessing criminal behaviors from age 12 to 87 or death, utilizing both retrospective and prospective data.

  • Key parameters examined:

    • Participation: Frequency of offending across lifespan.

    • Duration: Length of criminal career.

    • Frequency of offenses within set age ranges.

    • Crime mix: Types of crime committed.

Findings: Gender Differences in Criminal Careers

Participation

  • General conclusion: Women exhibit lower rates of criminal participation compared to men, especially prominent in older age.

Duration and Age of Onset

  • Onset age for women averages 29.3 years versus 21.5 years for men.

  • Significant proportion of women begin their criminal careers later in life (age 45+).

Frequency

  • Women show much lower average frequency of offenses compared to men, with 4.6 convictions for women versus 13.0 for men.

  • Women’s frequencies decrease after age 20.

Crime Mix

  • Women predominantly commit property crimes compared to men, whose crime type diversifies with increased convictions.

  • Only 11.4% of women with a single conviction committed a violent crime versus 24.9% of men.

Trajectories of Offending

  • Identified trajectories through semiparametric group-based modeling:

    • Sporadic Offenders (SO): Majority of offenders (70.9%).

    • Low-Rate Desisters: Make up 21.7%.

    • Moderate-Rate Desisters: 5.7%.

    • High-Rate Chronic Offenders: 1.6%.

    • More women qualify as sporadic offenders than men.

Implications for Theory and Practice

Theoretical Implications

  • Findings challenge previous models that predominantly reflect male experiences and suggest a need for gender-sensitive approaches in criminology.

  • Women’s pathways highlight the importance of understanding adult onset and desistance factors differently.

Practical Implications

  • Practitioners should recognize that interventions designed for male offenders may not adequately address the needs of female offenders, especially considering differing criminal pathways.

  • Increased awareness of women's roles as caregivers and their impact on criminality.

Limitations of the Study

  • The data relies on criminal justice records, potentially missing context that could alter findings (e.g., undisclosed past offenses).

  • Sample size limitations may not provide comprehensive insights about less common offending patterns.

  • Suggests the importance of incorporating qualitative research to understand individuals' experiences more deeply.