Encyclopedia of women and crime

According to the US Department of Justice, the number of females in the correctional population more than doubled between 1986 and 1997, and between 1990 and 2000 the number of adult female inmates increased at a faster rate than that of men.

This is a reference book on the subject of women and crime, a field of study growing in interest since the late 1960s.

Consisting of over 240 detailed entries, it is international in scope and covers women as offenders, victims, criminologists, the criminal lawyers, reformers and even justice system workers.

It approaches the material from four different perspectives - offenders, offences, and theories on offending; victims and victimology; criminal justice system; and punishment and treatment.

It includes coverage of key legal issues and case law decisions, women's prisons, prison reformers and death row inmates.

It also looks at domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment and rehabilitation programs.

Finally it investigates why women commit crimes and features some famous women criminals.