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Women Offender Programs and Issues
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Understanding Violence By Women: A Review of the Literature
FSW N°-23
Margaret Shaw
and
Sheryl Dubois
Federally Sentenced Women Program
February 1995
Table of Contents
Why women's violence has been neglected
The literature
Defining violence
The Patterns Of Violent Crime By Women
The extent of violent crime by women
Sentencing violent offenders
Is violent crime by women increasing?
Race and social class
Summary
Problems In Understanding Women's Violence
How do we understand violence by women?
Problems of sampling and method
Differing disciplinary focus
Individual pathology
Gender-blindness
Popular images of violent women
Explanations Of Violent Behaviour By Women
Explaining women's aggression
Experiencing violence
Moving from victim to offender
Alcohol and drugs
Summary
Studies Of Female Aggression And Violence
A. Violence in the home
B. Offence-based studies
C. Institutional studies
Existing programmes
Women-specific approaches
Non-prison based approaches and sources
Community programmes for mothers who abuse their children
Conclusion
