Coerced Women and Criminology: Looking to the Future

This concluding chapter discusses the contribution to knowledge provided by this book and considers the ways in which a feminist, critical approach to understanding coercion may lead to a more holistic criminological understanding of some co-offending women’s pathways into crime. It particularly focuses on the issues with dichotomising agency and coercion and viewing victims and offenders as a binary concept when considering the experiences of coerced women. The chapter provides a number of recommendations for criminology, particularly considering the ways in which a more nuanced appreciation of co-offending women’s experiences could be gained.

A Feminist Critique of Representations of Potentially Coerced Women

This chapter discusses the media construction of women co-offenders and their relationship with their male partner/ co-offender, using the case/ court file material as a comparative tool. It particularly considers the ways in which the women’s representation served to minimise and discredit their perspectives and defence, particularly in relation to the potential influence of their relationship with their male partner on their offending behaviour. It also considers the ways in which the women’s suggestions of coercion or coercive techniques (at varying levels) by their male partner were constructed, particularly in media discourse. In doing so, the chapter is divided into a number of key themes, such as ‘bad women’ and ‘equally bad or worse’. It is important to note that the themes apply to the women at varying levels and the extent to which they were evident in the women’s legal and media representation will be discussed.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the concept of coercion and the existing field of research on coercion and female offenders, and it sets out the structure of the research within the book. The author will be using a case study approach to examine four women co-offenders, all of which have been co-accused with a man with whom they are in an intimate relationship. The use of case and court file documents allows the author to examine both the legal and media representations of the women and their cases. The chapter concludes by laying out the structure of the remainder of the book.

Applying the ‘Continuum of Coercion’: An Alternative, Feminist Framework

This chapter begins by critiquing the representation of the women’s reasons for offending as being a ‘rational choice’. Furthermore, the chapter introduces an alternative feminist conceptual framework to gain a more nuanced understanding of coercion as a pathway into crime for co-offending women. This framework is applied to the case studies analysed in this research by drawing on the women’s testimonies and experiences, taken from the case file material. The framework of a ‘continuum of coercion’ highlights the ways in which abusive, controlling and/ or obsessive relationships with a male partner may influence a woman’s ‘decision’ to offend and suggests that in some instances, such behaviours should be understood as being part of the wider continuum of domestic violence.

Understanding the Social Construction of Coerced Women

This chapter outlines the feminist methodology deployed in the analysis of the case studies, which involved adopting a woman-centred approach to research and aims to gain a more nuanced understanding of the co-offending women’s experiences and stories (Letherby, 2003). The chapter also discusses the benefits of using a case study approach in criminological research and critically considers the strengths and limitations of this particular method. Finally, the chapter identifies the sources of data used i.e. newspaper articles and case and court file documents, which are used as a comparative/ corroborative tool, as well as discussing the feminist framework developed for analysis. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the benefits of using a similar approach to data collection and analysis in other criminological research.

Theoretical Understandings of Coercion as a Pathway into Crime

This chapter introduces readers to the concept of coercion as a pathway into crime for female co-offenders and explores a range of literature and perspectives related to the topic. The chapter explores women’s pathways into crime more broadly, before considering differing definitions of concepts such as agency and coercion. The literature exploring coercion within the context of abusive and controlling relationships is also explored and the potential social, cultural and personal influences which may impact upon some women’s ‘choices’ to offend is considered. The chapter concludes with a critical overview of criminology’s current engagement with and understanding of coerced women.

Mediated Representations and Understandings of Co-Offending Women

This chapter begins by introducing readers to the significance of the social construction of crime and criminal justice issues. It outlines the existing literature which explores the dominant ways in which female offenders and co-offenders are represented in media and legal discourse, particularly drawing upon dichotomies such as bad/ mad. It also considers the ways in which gendered constructions, such as ‘bad mother’ (Barnett, 2006), evil manipulator (Jewkes, 2015) and mythical monster (Heidensohn, 1996; Jewkes, 2015) permeate media representations of female offenders.