| dc.description.abstract | Until recently, criminal behavior has mostly been discussed from a male perspective and has been about men, for men and by men. It is generally accepted that men iommit more crime than women; a statistic that has led many to look for an explanation for such disparity between the sexes. In the recent years the rate of criminal activity has significantly increased and a range of theories has purported to explain why this is so. These have alluded to changes in biological, physiological, emotional and environmental norms.
This study provided an overview of the socio-economic demographic of the women offenders incarcerated at the Lang'ata prison in Nairobi, Kenya. It set out to answer three questions: whether a woman's level of education influenced the type of crimes committed; whether age affected the type of crimes committed by women offenders; and whether economic status influenced the type of crimes committed by women offenders. This study adopted a descriptive research design with the total number of respondents being 100 out of the possible 364 women incarcerated at the Prison facility at the time of the study.
Data was analyzed and presented in the format of frequency distribution tables and percentages and sorted out under thematic subheadings. The study found a strong relationship between the socio-economic circumstances of women offenders and the types of crimes they had committed. It recommended various actions by state agencies in counteracting the effect of these circumstances. | en_US |
