Criminality of women: psycho-social dimension

Objective of the study is an attempt to determine main psychological features and family functioning properties of sentenced women, as well as possible differences in these characteristics compared to the normal population.

The study included 108 women classified into two exclusive groups. The group of tested convicts (N= 62) included women serving their sentences in the Women prison in Pozarevac, and within this group we distinguished 4 subgroups according to the type of the crime commited. A control group (N= 46) consisted of women employed in Belgrade industrial complex "Sport". The tests were carried out by applying the self-estimation questionnaire on certain aspects of family functioning, FACES version III of the Olson's circumplex model and a standardised version of MMPI 201.

The results indicate that there is a difference between the control and the convict grous, both in family dynamics and in psychological characteristics. By studying the family functioning, we established the existence of statistically significant differences in the following aspects: more frequent presence of violenc and socio-pathological behaviours, with a lower level of cohesion in the families of the female convicts. In comparison with the control group, which founds itself within the average limits, the female convicts are characterized by certain personality features, which may serve as a basis for their classifying into certain psychological profiles.

The results of our study reveal the necessity, both in studying the etiology of female criminality, and in prevention, diagnostics, planning and completion of rehabilitation treatment, of paying a special attention to the determination of the influence of family circumstances as well as psychological characteristics of this population.