Increase in violent crime among Finnish girls
According to police statistics, young females have become increasingly violent in recent years. A growing number of under-21-year-old women and girls are being suspected of assaults in Finland.
Ten years ago the annual number of women charged with assault was 700, while the corresponding figure for 2006 was already as high as 1,300. Of all under-21-year-old suspects the proportion of girls is today 22 per cent.
Dr. Ghitta Weizmann-Henelius, a psychologist at the Vanha Vaasa state mental hospital, whose doctoral thesis in psychology dealt with violent female offenders in Finland, is predicting that the increase in the violent behaviour of girls will be seen in Finnish criminal statistics in the course of the next few years.
The use of intoxicants has also been found to increase violence among females, and today, women are frequently found guilty of similar types of aggressive behvious to those shown in men.
Currently, the proportion of violent incidents that involve a woman as the perpetrator is about 13 per cent, and similarly in homicides it is around 10 per cent of all cases. The number of women serving time in prison in Finland is roughly 250, while the total prison population in the country is around 3,500.
An increasing number of female prisoners have a history of violent criminality and personality disorders, including substance abuse, reported Weizmann-Henelius. She has examined the personality, background characteristics and life events of women guilty of violent offences, who are being kept either in prison or in a forensic psychiatric hospital.
Based on the follow-up made by Weizmann-Henelius, some 95 per cent of those offenders who had a record of previous crimes were also found guilty of further offences after the time of study. In other words, criminal acts apparently tend to accumulate on the same individuals.
The violent acts committed by women have also become more brutal, involving knives, bottles, or stones. Frequently incidents also involve more than just one perpetrator. Even motives appear to be similar to those of men, and offences are often linked with revenge and drug traffic.
Apart of substance abuse, many females guilty of violent crimes have a background of childhood problems, including the parents’ divorce or domestic violence, frequently even sexual abuse, the psychologist noted.
The study indicates further that violent female offenders are most often single or divorced and unemployed. Typically, violent female offenders often have a history of suicide attempts and psychiatric treatment.
“According to some studies, women’s violence against their live-in companions is as common as that inflicted by men on women. However, the violence used by men is often more severe”, Weizmann-Henelius concludes.
Source: Helsingin Sanomat
October 13th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Is this world becoming worse? This is very sad to read, especially here in Finland, where education is rated highest. Maybe the increase of alcohol abuse is a factor in growing female crimes…
October 14th, 2007 at 6:01 am
That girls looks like she could beat my ass!
And yea, this is very sad to read… instead of playing with barbie dolls, they get drunk and beat each other up! Im happy this doesn’t happen here in Spain! At least I hope so!