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Female Chronic Offender: Exploring Life Contingency and Offense History Dimensions for Incarcerated Female Offenders

NCJ Number
156301
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: (1995) Pages: 45-66
Author(s)
T A Danner; W R Blount; I J Silverman; M Vega
Date Published
1995
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Female chronic offenders are discussed.
Abstract
This article presents the results of a study analyzing data from files on 1,076 incarcerated female felons to provide answers for the following inquiries regarding female chronic offenders: the similarities between female and male chronic offenders; the similarities between female chronic and female nonchronic offenders; and the variables that are the strongest discriminators between these female groups. Results indicate that like male chronic offenders, female chronic offenders in comparison to nonchronic offenders were more likely to be younger, of minority group status, single, substance abusers, have committed crimes alone, and were involved in spouse abuse. When comparing female chronic offenders to female nonchronic offenders, it was found that the process of becoming a female chronic offender appeared to be more complex than for males in that more criminogenic forces were required to overcome the crime inhibiting effects of female socialization. The core variables that most strongly discriminated between the female chronic and nonchronic offenders were determined to be the age at first adult arrest, substance abuse, offense seriousness, and minority group status. Tables, references, appendix