Women and violence : Femmes et la violence : théorie, risque et conséquences pour le traitement

Theories on women and violence stress the importance of processes both internal and external to the individual in understanding women’s acts of aggression. [...] Focusing on women incarcerated for a violent offence (n = 320), the mean age of this group was 35 years, comparable to that of the general women offender population and the profile of violent women offenders reported in other Canadian studies (Bell, 2004). [...] Asian offenders were the least likely to be incarcerated for a violent offence conviction (1.6%), although they also comprise the smallest portion of the total federal offender population (Trevethan & Rastin, 2004) An examination of the incarcerated population of violent women offenders’ sentencing and offence-related information revealed that approximately one-quarter of these women were serving [...] This has resulted in a shift away from the mere extension of male-centered theories of violent crime to women offenders, a pattern that is characteristic of much of the early correctional literature. [...] In addition to their emphasis on the learning of behaviour through observation, life experiences, and reinforcement, social learning theorists have increasingly come to realize the relevance of individuals’ cognitive processes in the development and maintenance of violent behaviour (Akers, 1998).