“I Wanted to Rebel, But There They Hit Me Even Harder”

Abstract

This study examined women offenders' accounts of their pathways to substance abuse and crime and the intersection between them, to reach a holistic understanding that captures the dynamics of victimization, agency, and gender. Discourse analyses of the accounts of 11 Israeli women offenders indicated differential use of two discourses. Five participants used the victimization discourse, which viewed substance abuse as an attempt to medicate the self that was injured following victimization experiences; two used the agency discourse, which viewed substance abuse as a way to experience pleasure, leisure, and control over their destiny. Four of the participants used these two contradictory discourses simultaneously. The findings indicate the absence of a cultural discourse that encompasses women's complex experience of gender, victimization, and agency. Possible implications for intervention are discussed.

Pathways and penalties: Exploring experiences of agency among incarcerated women in South Africa

“…Incomprehensibly, this agency discourse is often absent from literature regarding women's pathways to crime. Gueta and Chen (2016) theorise that this is because women who experience agency with reference to committing offences "are viewed as doubly deviant, as they risk their normative gender roles as well as their reproductive capacity. They are therefore construed as 'unfeminine'" (p. 791).…”

Şuçun Faili Olarak Kadın

“…Mahkûmların genel nüfusa kıyasla daha fazla madde kullanımı sorunu yaşamalarının olası olduğu belirtilmektedir (MacDonald, 2013). Yine kadınların suça yönelmelerinde madde kullanımı önemli rol oynamaktadır (Gueta & Chen, 2016). Öyle ki kadınların işlediği suçlar genellikle maddeyle bağlantılıdır ve madde suçları, kadınların işlediği en yaygın suç türlerindendir (MacDonald, 2013).…”