The failure of role theorists to produce an adequate account of female criminality is a symptom of the more general neglect of the female offender by criminologists and sociologists. Role theory, in its present form, is useful to the extent that it attempts to study the female delinquent in her social environment. It fails, however, by its refusal to recognize the complexity and dynamics of the process by which roles are acquired and to situate them in a social and economic context. Symbolic interactionism meets the needs of a theory of female crime which recognizes the dynamic and interactive nature of roletaking and imports a number of social factors into this process. It explains the way in which sex roles impinge on women's self-assessment and how their resulting dependent self-image makes them loath to place themselves in situations of social disapproval. Finally, it explains the reactions of women who are unable to avoid social condemnation (female offenders confronted by the criminal justice process). If the female offender's sensitivity to social disapproval leads her to react emotionally to police, a supportive and nonjudgmental approach may help to alleviate her fears of social disapproval and rejection. A similarly supportive approach should also help the female offender who is unable to cope with the fact that she has been caught offending and denies all knowledge of the incident. A total of 51 footnotes are listed. (Author summary modified)