Female Offending: A Historical Perspective

• In Event: Gender, Race and Crime around the Early 20th Century

Abstract

This paper examines 2 cohorts of women released from the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women in 1925 and 1995. The primary objectives are to explore the nature of offending, recidivism characteristics, personal demographics, and structural location between both groups. We will discuss to what extent the criminal offending of women has changed over the past 70 years and place these findings within the context of public policy approaches to crime and punishment especially as they relate to women.

Authors

• Mary Ellen Mastrorilli, Boston University

• Danielle M. Rousseau, Boston University