Female offenders: Background and patterns of offenses committed by women

Abstract

The criminological literature is frequently concerned with the question why women are less criminal than men. In this context, it is not sufficient only to find the reason for the different criminal tendencies in general. Instead, to understand female criminality it is essential to look at reasons and structures leading to offenses committed by women. Thus, this article briefly presents different offenses frequently committed by female offenders. In detail these are violent offenses (child maltreatment and child homicide, as well as intimate partner violence and violence in the care of old persons), stalking, property offenses and false accusations. Thereby, scenarios, motives and risk factors can be identified that promote criminal behavior of women.