Assessing Trends in Women's Violence via Data Triangulation: Arrests, Convictions, Incarcerations, and Victim Reports

Abstract

Constructionist theories suggest the national rise in female violence arrests may be policy-generated because arrest statistics are produced by violent behavior and changing official responses (e.g., net-widening enforcement policies). Normative theories attribute the rise to female behavior changes (e.g., in response to increased freedoms or hardships). We examine whether any narrowing of the arrest gender gap is borne out across offense types of varying measurement reliability, in victimization data, and across two post-arrest criminal justice stages. Advanced time-series analyses over 1980–2003 support the constructionist position – first, all sources show little or no increase in women’s rates for the more reliably measured offenses of homicide and robbery, and for rape; second, the assault gender gap narrows for arrests, but holds stable in victimization data; third, the assault gender gap narrows moderately for convictions, but is stable for imprisonment, indicating spill-over effects of more expansive arrest policies. Several factors have produced greater female representation in “criminal assault” arrests including (i) proactive policing targeting and formally responding to minor violence and in private contexts, (ii) interventionist developmental epistemologies that blur distinctions among violence types and circumstances, (iii) the rise of social movements recognizing “hidden” victims, (iv) law and order political messages stressing greater accountability, and (v) the somewhat greater decline in male compared to female violence in the late 1990s. The problem of women’s violence is largely a social construction. Rather than women becoming more violent, changes in the management of violence increasingly mask differences in the violence levels of women and men.

Opening the Door for More: Assessing the Impact of Sentencing Reforms on Commitments to Prison Over Time

“…That is, the reforms increased the number of people brought into the system through changes in criminal justice policy or practices itself, and not through increased criminal activity (McMahon, 1990). For example, Schwartz, Steffensmeier, and Feldmeyer (2009) found that in the 1990s, women were arrested at increasingly higher rates for assault in spite of evidence that showed that women were not actually committing substantially more assaults. They concluded that changes in criminal justice policies and practice, and not changes in criminal behavior, were the main determinate of the increased arrests.…”

Mujeres delincuentes violentas

“…El cambio en el patrón delictivo no parece sugerir un incremento en la violencia, sino que más bien puede ser resultado de cambios socio-políticos y del endurecimiento de la ley (Schwartz, Steffensmeier y Feldmeyer, 2009). …”

“…Precisamente, la eliminación de algunos de estos sesgos y la ampliación de la persecución delictiva podrían explicar el incremento de mujeres condenadas (Schwartz et al, 2009). Pese a ello, la mujer sigue siendo una minoría en la mayoría de los indicadores delictivos.…”

Assessing Short-Term Outcomes of an Intervention for Women Convicted of Violent Crimes

“…Violent crime among women has remained relatively stable since 1960, with an overall decreased rate of homicide and robbery but an increased rate of assaults throughout the 1990s (Koons-Witt & Schram, 2003;Kruttschnitt, 2002;Pollock & Davis, 2005;Schwartz, Steffensmeier & Feldmeyer, 2009). Historically, nearly three quarters of women convicted of violent offenses were charged with simple assault (Greenfeld & Snell, 1999), and some scholars have speculated that mandatory arrest policies in situations of domestic violence are likely responsible for the increases in arrest and conviction of women for assault (Pollock & Davis, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2009).…”

“…Historically, nearly three quarters of women convicted of violent offenses were charged with simple assault (Greenfeld & Snell, 1999), and some scholars have speculated that mandatory arrest policies in situations of domestic violence are likely responsible for the increases in arrest and conviction of women for assault (Pollock & Davis, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2009). In contrast to men, women who use violence were more likely to have had a relationship with the victim (Greenfeld & Snell, 1999;Pizarro, DeJong & McGarell, 2010).…”