Women, Crime and Justice in England since 1660

'Clear, comprehensive, engaging and well written. This book covers all of the main aspects of 'women and crime' over the last 350 years and does so in a detailed yet accessible way that makes it suitable for the undergraduate or new reader.' - Helen Johnston, University of Hull, UK 'This book is an outstanding achievement. It not only fills a major gap in textbook offerings in the area of criminal justice history in general, it also offers a comprehensive - perhaps even a pioneering - survey of one of that area's most perennially fascinating topics: the criminality of women.' - Simon Devereaux, University of Victoria, Canada

D'Cruze and Jackson introduce students to key debates and trends in the study of women's relationship to the criminal justice system in England over the last four centuries. The areas explored include attitudes towards murder and infanticide, sexual violence, prostitution, the 'girl delinquent', and women's experience of penal regimes.Shani D'Cruze and Louise A. Jackson provide students with a lively overview of women's relationship to the criminal justice system in England, exploring key debates in the regulation of 'respectable' and 'deviant' femininities over the last four centuries. Major issues include:

• attitudes towards murder and infanticide * prostitution
• the decline of witchcraft belief * sexual violence
• the 'girl delinquent' * theft and fraud

The volume also examines women's participation in illegal forms of protest and political activism, their experience of penal regimes as well as strategies of resistance, and their involvement in occupations associated with criminal justice itself. Assuming that men and women cannot be studied in isolation, D'Cruze and Jackson make reference to recent studies of masculinity and comment on the ways in which relations between men and women have been understood and negotiated across time.

Featuring examples drawn from a rich range of sources such as court records, autobiographies, literature and film, this is an ideal introduction to an increasingly popular area of study.