Snapshots: Holistice Images of Female Offenders in the Criminal Justice System

This Essay attempts to pull together the various threads of thought regarding the relationships between gender, race, and class within the justice system, and suggests possible patterns that could be used to create holistic images of female offenders. Part I provides a brief overview of the various explanations used over time to account for criminal behavior by women. Part II details the ways in which gender can affect the processes of the criminal justice system. Part III discusses the impact that race can have on the female offender’s experience in the system. Part IV briefly overviews the types of influences that class statuts produces. Part V concludes that while some research has been done combinding these factors, additional research, using all of these factors, is required in order to achieve a more accurate picture of female offenders in America.