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Violence and Violent Crime- The Gender Consideration
violent behavior or attitudes; the act of or undertaken in relation to their interac-
attacking without provocation...” tion with, and response to, male violence
and criminality. It is also not surpris-
In the study undertaken by Burman et ing that female criminologists found the
al, verbal abuse and the spreading of need to fill this gap. In the past, women
rumors was seen as ‘violent’ or more were classified into two types: mad or
aggressive than physical violence (such bad. Most female offenders convicted of
as being punched). If verbal, rather violent crimes were seen as women who
than physical, violence causes more fought back against domestic violence or
concern girls, should we take this as an who protected their children; others were
indication that girls consider violence considered ‘evil’ and historically, were
to be a psychological rather than considered witches or concubines of the
physical problem? Why do some girls devil. We may now have a better under-
have a greater fear of violence which standing of criminality, but this has not
is spoken whilst most people, and stopped the ‘bad’ or ‘mad’ viewpoint from
particularly boys, are more inclined to being represented by the media, the public
class violence as a physical assault? and in some quarters of the criminal jus-
tice system when females are involved.
Fear of violence is often more potent
as it is the ‘unknown’; the precise Women are viewed as more deviant than
time and place of being the recipient their male counterparts as they have
of violence is unknown with domestic not only offended against the criminal
violence victims, but they are kept on code but also against social convention.
alert because they know it is going to Whereas social rules and convention have
occur at some point. However, from changed over time, women are still con-
a legal point of view, violence and sidered to be mothers, wives, lovers and
violent crime, is where physical injury workers but not offenders; rarely do we
is inflicted and only in recent years was expect women to commit violent offences.
psychological trauma accepted as a Those who do are vilified for years pos-
‘violent offence’ (see Protection from sibly serving longer terms than male coun-
Harassment Act 1997). terparts, particularly when they offend
against those they are supposed to protect.
Given the low numbers of women who
offend, both historically and in recent Myra Hindley and Beverley Allit both
times, it is unsurprising that studies into murdered children; Allit did so as a nurse
female criminality were either ignored so could be again seen as doubly deviant
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