Women Criminal Activities
Under the rubric of both criminology and sociolo
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Under the rubric of both criminology and sociology, the behavior of women in organized crime has been explained quite differently. A review of the theoretical literature shows two basic schools of thought that directly related to the pattern and development of women in crime. The first view, earlier and more traditional, holds that there are psychological and physiological factors inherent in the nature of women who are themselves criminal or have attached themselves to the criminal element.1 Recently, however, a second school of thought has developed that attempts to combine a more holistic approach and sees that both social and cultural factors explain the female criminal or her involvement with crime.2For the purposes of this paper, however, we will limit ourselves to a discussion of two major groups and the role that women play within the organized crime activities in the Mafia and the South American Criminal Cartel (Latin Crime Families). Initially, the paper will present an overview of 1 A representative of this school includes D. Pollak and A. Friedman, Family Dynamics and Female Sex Delinquency, (Palo Alto: Science and Behavior Books, 1969). 2 A representative of this view includes two works by F. Adler, "A Criminologists View of Women Terrorists," The New York Times (9 January 1978): 29; and Sisters in Crime, (New York: McGraw Hill, 1975). the subject of women in crime. The second section of the paper will deal with a brief hist
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ng out of the relationship. The same witness tells of being taken to parties where the men would mysteriously disappear and the women would be left to amuse themselves. The women, it seems, were often disheveled and did not take very good care of themselves. This was surprising to this woman, since the media had painted such a glamorous picture of Mafia life. In her words, the conversations were far from elegant, often dealing with the reality of the criminal life:
It was the first time I had ever had a conversation where the women talked about jail. They made jail very real. They knew the good prisons and the bad ones. They never talked about what their husbands had done to get sent to jail. That just wasn't ever a part of the conversation. What they discussed was how the prosecutors and the cops lied. How people picked on their husbands. How their husbands had done something
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9 See Balsamo and Carpozi, passim; Adler, ed., 215 28.
10 Mario Puzo, The Godfather, (New York: Putnam, 1969).
everybody was doing but had just had the bad luck to get caught. Then in the same breath they would discuss the
bus rides up to see their husbands and what they wore on the long trips and how the kids
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Ianni Reuss Ianni, Simon Schuster, York Putnam, University Press, Castro Adler, Drug Thugs, Social Morals, Godfather10 Mafia, Horizon Press, South American, latin crime, crime families, latin crime families, organized crime, mafia family, january 1990, women crime, latin criminal, adler ed, december 1989, female criminality, newsweek 20 january, 20 january 1990, january 1990 28 9, mafia's hundred hills,
Approximate Word count = 3628
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)
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