... who argue that female crime was on par with male crime 150 years ago and has been in steady decline since and that this is due to the shift in female roles within society. It has been proposed that there has been an increase in female criminality and that this increase is linked to the second wave of feminism in the 1960s/70s. The issue was first raised by Freda Adler (1975) in 'Sisters in Crime' which establishes that the increase in female crime is proof that the feminist movement is working, as women are freer to behave like men (Williams 2004: 470; Heidensohn 2002: 496). Since the women's movement it has been viewed by some writers that women are obtaining similar social positions to men and this will inevitably include the positions in criminal activity. They could leave the private sphere of the home and engage in the public sphere ...

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