Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin

The criminal behavior of women has been studied less than that of men. This could be because women commit fewer crimes than men, especially violent offences, and also because female crime would typically be carried out in private and domestic spheres. In addition, women's roles as mothers, soci...

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Main Authors: Samuel, Rachel, Omar, Roaimah, Ariffin, Rohana
Format: Research Reports
Language:English
Published: Research Management Institute (RMI) 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/1/LP_RACHEL%20SAMUEL%20RMI%2012_5.pdf
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author Samuel, Rachel
Omar, Roaimah
Ariffin, Rohana
author_facet Samuel, Rachel
Omar, Roaimah
Ariffin, Rohana
author_sort Samuel, Rachel
collection UITM
description The criminal behavior of women has been studied less than that of men. This could be because women commit fewer crimes than men, especially violent offences, and also because female crime would typically be carried out in private and domestic spheres. In addition, women's roles as mothers, society's taboo towards female violence and consequent denial have possibly reduced the concern of this issue. In Malaysia, out of 39, 258 prisoners in 2008, only 9% were females (Malaysian Stats, 2009). Historically, women have been more likely to commit minor offenses and have made up only a small proportion of the offender population. It is generally accepted that women commit a small share of all crimes, which are less serious and less professional in nature, resulting in their smaller representation within the criminal justice system (Heidensohn, 1994). This suggests that gender may be of greater statistical significance in differentiating between criminals and noncriminals than any other characteristic (Worrall. 2001). However, globally, there is a rising trend.in the percentage of female offenders and their participation in violent crime. The increase is related to personality characteristics, substance misuse and prior criminal behavior of the offenders (Putkonen, Komulainen, Virkkunen, Eronen & Lonnqvist, 2003). Though the numbers of the offenders seem insignificant, this research was carried out to have an in-depth understanding of who the female offenders in Malaysia are and what types of crimes are they incarcerated for. More than half of the female prison population in Malaysia is made up of foreigners from poorer neighboring countries with immigration offenses being the highest in terms of committed crimes. The focus of this research however was only the Malaysian female offenders, which makes up a much smaller percentage than the 9% stated above.
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spelling uitm.eprints-64102019-11-14T09:06:42Z https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/ Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin Samuel, Rachel Omar, Roaimah Ariffin, Rohana Demographic surveys Criminal anthropology. Including criminal types, criminal psychology, prison psychology, causes of crime The criminal behavior of women has been studied less than that of men. This could be because women commit fewer crimes than men, especially violent offences, and also because female crime would typically be carried out in private and domestic spheres. In addition, women's roles as mothers, society's taboo towards female violence and consequent denial have possibly reduced the concern of this issue. In Malaysia, out of 39, 258 prisoners in 2008, only 9% were females (Malaysian Stats, 2009). Historically, women have been more likely to commit minor offenses and have made up only a small proportion of the offender population. It is generally accepted that women commit a small share of all crimes, which are less serious and less professional in nature, resulting in their smaller representation within the criminal justice system (Heidensohn, 1994). This suggests that gender may be of greater statistical significance in differentiating between criminals and noncriminals than any other characteristic (Worrall. 2001). However, globally, there is a rising trend.in the percentage of female offenders and their participation in violent crime. The increase is related to personality characteristics, substance misuse and prior criminal behavior of the offenders (Putkonen, Komulainen, Virkkunen, Eronen & Lonnqvist, 2003). Though the numbers of the offenders seem insignificant, this research was carried out to have an in-depth understanding of who the female offenders in Malaysia are and what types of crimes are they incarcerated for. More than half of the female prison population in Malaysia is made up of foreigners from poorer neighboring countries with immigration offenses being the highest in terms of committed crimes. The focus of this research however was only the Malaysian female offenders, which makes up a much smaller percentage than the 9% stated above. Research Management Institute (RMI) 2012 Research Reports NonPeerReviewed text en https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/1/LP_RACHEL%20SAMUEL%20RMI%2012_5.pdf Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin. (2012) [Research Reports] (Unpublished)
spellingShingle Demographic surveys
Criminal anthropology. Including criminal types, criminal psychology, prison psychology, causes of crime
Samuel, Rachel
Omar, Roaimah
Ariffin, Rohana
Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin
title Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin
title_full Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin
title_fullStr Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin
title_full_unstemmed Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin
title_short Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin
title_sort socio demographic characteristics of female criminals at the kajang women prison malaysia rachel samuel roaimah omar and rohana ariffin
topic Demographic surveys
Criminal anthropology. Including criminal types, criminal psychology, prison psychology, causes of crime
url https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/1/LP_RACHEL%20SAMUEL%20RMI%2012_5.pdf
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