Author Description

Product Description The criminology literature has left little room for research and theory on how female offenders are perceived and handled in the criminal justice system. This book redresses the balance by providing critical insight into this issue. Meda Chesney-Lind explores gender and cultural factors in women′s lives that often precede a move towards criminal behavior, and addresses the question of whether female offenders are more violent today than in the past. The author also takes a revealing look at how public discomfort with the idea of women as criminals has had significant impact on the treatment received by this offender population. About the Author Meda Chesney-Lind is Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Hawaii, and a B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Whitman College. She has served as Vice President of the American Society of Criminology and president of the Western Society of Criminology. Nationally recognized for her work on women and crime, her books include Girls, Delinquency and Juvenile Justice, The Female Offender: Girls, Women and Crime, Female Gangs in America, Invisible Punishment, Girls, Women and Crime, and Beyond Bad Girls: Gender Violence and Hype. She has just finished an edited collection on trends in girls’ violence, entitled Fighting for Girls: Critical Perspectives on Gender and Violence, published by SUNY Press. Dr. Chesney-Lind is a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology and the Western Society of Criminology. She has been on the Women’s Studies faculty at the University of Hawaii since 1986, and also serves on the graduate faculty in the Department of Sociology. She received the Bruce Smith, Sr. Award "for outstanding contributions to Criminal Justice" from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in April, 2001. She was named a fellow of the American Society of Criminology in 1996 and has also received the Herbert Block Award for service to the