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This study explored the attitudes of prison officers, forensic staff and members of the public towards and male and female sex offenders. Participants were provided with a vignette depicting a specific sexual offence committed against either an adult or a child, by either a male or a female perpetrator, and were then asked to complete a scale assessing attitudes to sex offenders based on the offender depicted in the vignette. Forensic staff emerged as having the most positive attitudes to sex offenders, viewing them as individuals who could be rehabilitated. Prison officers emerged as having the most negative attitudes, in that they were supportive of harsh and untrusting attitudes. Overall, females emerged as viewing sex offenders in more positive terms, whereas males were more supportive of harsh attitudes to sex offenders. Respondents did not have a more negative attitude to female sex offenders than to male sex offenders.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to highlight recent research addressing theories of female offending and the context of female perpetrated homicides. Women have often been omitted in research and theory development, thus gendered interventions and treatments lag behind. Additionally, female perpetrated homicides are rare, consequently research examining the context of the events and the events leading up to the homicide are inadequate.

Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to examine the historical research on female offenders, the context of female violent offenses particularly homicide offenses, and emerging theories of gendered experiences into criminal activities for women.

Findings – Findings indicate that gender matters when explaining theories of female offending and when examining the context of female perpetrated homicides.

Originality/value – Females have different life events from males, and these life events create distinct pathways into criminal offending, including the ultimate offense of homicide. Based on these differences, theory development as well as intervention and prevention strategies must be designed that are gender specific.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect gender has on the public perceptions of offenders with mental health issues. The authors aim to understand how offenders with mental illness are viewed by the public so future information and practices can be implemented to further educate on the topic of mental illness. Research has shown that mental health education can be a pivotal part of reducing risk and crime among the mentally ill population.

This study applies a quantitative design using vignettes. There were four scenarios, two as controls, and two experimental variables to examine how responses differed depending on gender and mental health. Twenty statements then followed each vignette and participants were asked to share how much they aligned their opinions with each statement on a five-point Likert scale. The sample was comprised of 80 participants.

The findings of this study largely support the relevant literature on the topic of gender and mental illness in offenders. Overall, the public was the least supportive of female offenders with mental illness, followed by male offenders with mental illness, then male offenders and lastly the most support was directed towards female offenders. Therefore, the present study’s initial hypotheses are also supported in that female offenders will garner a more sympathetic reaction than their male counterparts. However, if female offenders have mental health issues, they are viewed more negatively than males.

For future replication of this study, the authors consider that a larger and more gender-balanced sample size would increase the ecological validity of the findings. Despite this, the findings of this study do fall in line with the relevant literature. Therefore, suggesting perhaps that the gender of the sample does not affect the overall outcome of the results.

Education regarding mental health for the public should be implemented as research has found this effective in de-stigmatising and helping to create protective factors to reduce offending. More training is needed for professionals within the criminal justice system, including police personnel, to ensure they are better equipped to consider the needs and behaviours of mentally ill individuals. The authors suggest that mental health awareness should be taught as part of the education system in the UK to help de-stigmatise and share helpful resources. The prison system in the UK needs to be able to provide better treatment programmes for inmates with mental health issues as research shows this is the most effective form of treatment at reducing recidivism.

The social implications of this study are that it aims to understand perceptions of mental illness, gender and offending and, therefore, use the conclusions drawn to inform what is needed to improve perceptions if necessary. De-stigmatising and acknowledging mental illness can allow for better access to appropriate treatment. Facilitating reintegration back into society, and, therefore, increasing peer support which has been shown to reduce reoffending rates within the mentally ill population.

There are very few research studies looking at the impact of both gender and mental illness on how offenders are perceived. Most relevant research tends to either pick one or the other and therefore the present study is unique. In addition, most established research looks at the perception of a specific population. Whereas the present study has used a small but broad UK participant sample which is likely to be more generalisable. Finally, the results of this research have been able to both meet the aims of the study and accept the proposed hypotheses.

Purpose: Drawing on research in crime and media studies, this research examines media images and stereotypes of criminals within the popular television crime drama series Bones. Methodology/approach: All 24 episodes of Season 9 were examined. Through a content analysis offender gender, race, age, offense type, and motive were examined. Findings: This research revealed that most of the images do not reflect the reality of crime and criminals. Gendered and racialized images were revealed. While male minorities’ victimization was more accurately portrayed, White females were cast in the stereotype as the emotional offender and minority females’ criminality was portrayed as similar to male criminals.

The purpose of this paper is to review the status of biosignal measures of female sexual arousal with a view to examining the feasibility of such procedures in a forensic context. Although adult women represent the minority of sexual offenders, female perpetrated sexual abuse has been gaining increasing attention in the forensic psychological literature as criminal justice is confronted with female offending populations to a greater extent than previously recognised.

Psychological assessments of sex offenders have tended to be over-dependent on the use of self-report measures (i.e. an individual's appraisal and report of their emotional state of sexual arousal). There is a dearth of empirical knowledge concerning the psychophysiological assessment of female sexual interest in general and especially so for female sex offenders. Physiological measures are those that rely on directly observable physiological responses of the individual in order to identify patterns of sexual interest or arousal.

Because deviant sexual interest (in children or the use of violence) as assessed by penile plethysmography, has been established as one of the strongest predictors of recidivism in male sex offenders (and as a viable alternative to self-report methodologies), an analogue measurement approach for female sex offenders is desirable. This paper considers: first, theoretical problems (e.g. what does female physiological arousal mean in terms of sexual arousal/desire?; second, technical measurement problems (e.g. reactivity of the measure in within subject designs); and third, procedural/ethical problems (e.g. invasiveness of the application).

While a number of physiological assessment devices are considered in this paper, the paper discusses the labial photoplethysmograph as a promising method for female sexual offender populations.

This paper aims to shift from the male offender perspective in attempts to explore the stories and lived experiences of five females on parole in Nelson Mandela Bay, as most correctional research in South Africa focuses on the male offender experience. The experiences of females are largely ignored both in terms of reform and in research, and while only a few South African studies on female criminality have emerged, little is known about the impact of incarceration and reintegration on their livelihoods.

This paper makes use of an ethnographic approach as the narrative follows the complex realities of females on parole to include their voice, depth and experience in the debate within the parole experiences measure framework. This study made use of five individual interviews and observations, which were complemented by existing literature.

This paper provides insights on the experiences, vulnerabilities, challenges, fears and concerns of females on parole and the relative social costs of their incarceration. The experiences allow for a deeper understanding of the shades of their experiences of powerlessness, gender-specific sexualisation and exploitation, economic vulnerability and destitution and social alienation and exclusion which uniquely influences behavioural and emotional deficits.

Because the number of females on parole in Nelson Mandela Bay is few, this study could only interview five female offenders. Yet, as this study is ethnographic in nature, it offers a deep understanding of these five female offenders.

This research offers an insight into the social ills faced by female on parole. This work highlights the effects of incarceration are often felt by females long after their release since their experience of imprisonment affects their future prospects, damaging and debilitating. This paper suggests self-reclamation that could lead to positive reactions towards rehabilitative and reintegration. This research opens up the larger debate and does not offer tangible recommendations.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study parole amongst female offenders.

This paper aims to present the findings of a study examining fraud in the workplace setting, principally in the Australasian context. Although prior research into occupational fraud is conceptually rich, there is a lack of empirical evidence of this important but elusive problem.

Based on investigative data from 14 participating firms, the paper provides insights into the gender breakdowns and stated motivations of offenders. The paper also provides evidence of the number of investigations, interviews and reports to law enforcement in these firms.

The study finds that genders are evenly balanced for most firms, with females significantly outnumbering males in banking firms. Self-imposed financial hardship was the most popular motivator. Of the number of admissions to wrongdoing, only half were subsequently reported to law enforcement.

Particularly complex or advanced types of occupational fraud may go unreported or undetected: as a result, the figures presented in this study may be incomplete. Reported figures are based largely on historical data provided by respondents, and the authors are unable to report accurate details of the respondent firms. This makes it difficult to determine the frequency of offending against the background population.

Investigators should continue to look for changes in the life circumstances of their staff. Such changes will give an indication of instances of staff living beyond their means and the sudden financial pressures that can compel occupational fraud. Instead of trying to supervise staff to an impractical degree, managers and proprietors would be well advised to be alert to the kind of pressures that their staff might experience.

Social control and detection measures are likely to be easier to implement and less invasive than technical controls. The study provides additional pressure to update traditional conceptualisations of the male white collar offender. While male offenders were responsible for larger losses per case, females were more numerous in the summary offence data.

Gaining insights into the problem of employee fraud and white collar crime is difficult. The authors’ contribution in this paper is to provide empirical insights into the makeup of white collar offenders, including insights on gender.

Purpose: This study examines representations of criminal victims and offenders on television’s Law and Order, which ran for 20 years. Law and Order was praised by viewers as a realistic and lifelike representation of the criminal justice system. Given its popularity and perceived realism, Law and Order was likely a major source of information about the criminal justice system, victims of crime, and criminals. Methodology/approach: Utilizing an ethnographic content analysis of 50 episodes of Law and Order, the data include demographic and contextual information on over 1,500 characters. The analyses in this study focus on the sociodemographic characteristics of victims and offenders in total and across time. Findings: Results find that Whites, women, and those from middle- and upper-classes were disproportionately presented as victims. Offenders were disproportionately White, male, older, and from the middle- or upper-classes. People of color were underrepresented in all roles, and Latinx characters were more likely to be portrayed in a negative light. Research limitations: The study lacks qualitative data, which would have contributed to a deeper understanding of victim and offender representations. Originality/value: The study represents the most robust content analysis of one of the most popular crime series of all time. Given the popularity and long running success of the show, it is likely that Law and Order is at least partially accountable for misconceptions and reinforcement of viewer’s misperceptions of what it means to be a “victim” and an “offender.”

Although literature surrounding sexual criminality is growing; with recent research, this paper aims to focus more upon burnout and emotional impact in therapists who study with sex offenders, little is known about possible gender differences in their experiences.

The study presents a systematic review that aims to provide an impartial critical examination of relevant existing literature, with the main aim of exploring the role of gender (both the staff members and the clients) in staffs’ experience of working with sexual offenders.

Findings retrieved 10 eligible studies indicating evidence of the influential role in which gender plays in the experienced staff may have when working with sexual offenders. Studies within the review demonstrated variability in views towards sexual offenders across genders; with studies finding female staff to hold more positive perceptions of sexual offenders. Further evidence suggested a global impact of working with the client group; with professionals holding differential and largely more positive views of sexual offenders than the general public. However, an adverse impact of working with sexual offenders was highlighted, particularly for staff who have worked longest within their role or have increased frequency of contact.

Limitations were highlighted in relation to the reviews ability to truly explore gender; given there are no current studies within this research area defining gender beyond male and female, losing the voices of those non-binary and transgendered individuals.

The paper includes implications for staff working with sexual offenders; including adverse affects of the clinical contact and the impact of working with same/opposing gendered clients. Research also takes a gender informed stance in exploring how staff gender impacts the relationships with sexual offenders, and the effect this may have on client outcomes.

Research is the first of its kind in taking a systematic approach to exploring the current literature surrounding staffs experiences of working with sexual offenders, through a gender informed lens.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of psychopathology including substance use disorders in a sample of detained female systematic offenders.

All case files of female systematic offenders who had been subjected to a special court order for systematic offenders in the period 2004-2014 were studied. A total of 81 fairly complete case files were selected for the study. These were all systematic offenders as they had been sentenced for at least 25 offences with an average of 102 offences over a period of 17.5 years.

All except one woman were addicted to substances in the past year, with an average duration of addiction of 21 years. In addition, 53 per cent were diagnosed with another DSM Axis I disorder and 73 per cent were diagnosed with a personality disorder. Furthermore, 32-59 per cent were found to have intellectual dysfunctions. In total, 12 per cent had one type of the above disorders, 43 per cent two types, 31 per cent three types and 14 per cent all four types. The prevalence rates of these disorders were higher than those reported in other prison studies.

It is concluded that female systematic offenders can be characterised as problematic in many respects. Even in such a problematic group treatment can be provided.

The present study is the only study that provides prevalence data of mental disorders among female systematic offenders.