Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin
The criminal behavior of women has been studied less than that of men. This could be because women commit fewer crimes than men, especially violent offences, and also because female crime would typically be carried out in private and domestic spheres. In addition, women's roles as mothers, soci...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Research Reports |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Research Management Institute (RMI)
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/ |
| _version_ | 1848806520051990528 |
|---|---|
| author | Samuel, Rachel Omar, Roaimah Ariffin, Rohana |
| author_facet | Samuel, Rachel Omar, Roaimah Ariffin, Rohana |
| author_sort | Samuel, Rachel |
| building | UiTM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The criminal behavior of women has been studied less than that of men. This could be because women commit fewer crimes than men, especially violent offences, and also because female crime would typically be carried out in private and domestic spheres. In addition, women's roles as mothers, society's taboo towards female violence and consequent denial have possibly reduced the concern of this issue. In Malaysia, out of 39, 258 prisoners in 2008, only 9% were females (Malaysian Stats, 2009). Historically, women have been more likely to commit minor offenses and have made up only a small proportion of the offender population. It is generally accepted that women commit a small share of all crimes, which are less serious and less professional in nature, resulting in their smaller representation within the criminal justice system (Heidensohn, 1994). This suggests that gender may be of greater statistical significance in differentiating between criminals and noncriminals than any other characteristic (Worrall. 2001). However, globally, there is a rising trend.in the percentage of female offenders and their participation in violent crime. The increase is related to personality characteristics, substance misuse and prior criminal behavior of the offenders (Putkonen, Komulainen, Virkkunen, Eronen & Lonnqvist, 2003). Though the numbers of the offenders seem insignificant, this research was carried out to have an in-depth understanding of who the female offenders in Malaysia are and what types of crimes are they incarcerated for. More than half of the female prison population in Malaysia is made up of foreigners from poorer neighboring countries with immigration offenses being the highest in terms of committed crimes. The focus of this research however was only the Malaysian female offenders, which makes up a much smaller percentage than the 9% stated above. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T22:28:14Z |
| format | Research Reports |
| id | uitm-26410 |
| institution | Universiti Teknologi MARA |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T22:28:14Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Research Management Institute (RMI) |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | uitm-264102019-11-14T09:06:42Z https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/ Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin Samuel, Rachel Omar, Roaimah Ariffin, Rohana Demographic surveys Criminal anthropology. Including criminal types, criminal psychology, prison psychology, causes of crime The criminal behavior of women has been studied less than that of men. This could be because women commit fewer crimes than men, especially violent offences, and also because female crime would typically be carried out in private and domestic spheres. In addition, women's roles as mothers, society's taboo towards female violence and consequent denial have possibly reduced the concern of this issue. In Malaysia, out of 39, 258 prisoners in 2008, only 9% were females (Malaysian Stats, 2009). Historically, women have been more likely to commit minor offenses and have made up only a small proportion of the offender population. It is generally accepted that women commit a small share of all crimes, which are less serious and less professional in nature, resulting in their smaller representation within the criminal justice system (Heidensohn, 1994). This suggests that gender may be of greater statistical significance in differentiating between criminals and noncriminals than any other characteristic (Worrall. 2001). However, globally, there is a rising trend.in the percentage of female offenders and their participation in violent crime. The increase is related to personality characteristics, substance misuse and prior criminal behavior of the offenders (Putkonen, Komulainen, Virkkunen, Eronen & Lonnqvist, 2003). Though the numbers of the offenders seem insignificant, this research was carried out to have an in-depth understanding of who the female offenders in Malaysia are and what types of crimes are they incarcerated for. More than half of the female prison population in Malaysia is made up of foreigners from poorer neighboring countries with immigration offenses being the highest in terms of committed crimes. The focus of this research however was only the Malaysian female offenders, which makes up a much smaller percentage than the 9% stated above. Research Management Institute (RMI) 2012 Research Reports NonPeerReviewed text en https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/1/LP_RACHEL%20SAMUEL%20RMI%2012_5.pdf Samuel, Rachel and Omar, Roaimah and Ariffin, Rohana (2012) Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin. (2012) [Research Reports] (Unpublished) |
| spellingShingle | Demographic surveys Criminal anthropology. Including criminal types, criminal psychology, prison psychology, causes of crime Samuel, Rachel Omar, Roaimah Ariffin, Rohana Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin |
| title | Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin |
| title_full | Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin |
| title_fullStr | Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin |
| title_short | Socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the Kajang women prison, Malaysia / Rachel Samuel, Roaimah Omar and Rohana Ariffin |
| title_sort | socio-demographic characteristics of female criminals at the kajang women prison, malaysia / rachel samuel, roaimah omar and rohana ariffin |
| topic | Demographic surveys Criminal anthropology. Including criminal types, criminal psychology, prison psychology, causes of crime |
| url | https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/26410/ |