Review: “The Criminal Woman – A History of Women’s Crime”

2023 released under a promising title “Criminal Woman” An exciting book dealing with the history of women’s crime. Editors Jadwiga Kamola, Sabine Becker, and Ksenia Chushkova Giese have summarized the contributions of several authors in a 160-page booklet published by Weberischer Verlag.

In the book, the authors examine the previously unnoticed view of women as actual and alleged criminals in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The work therefore falls within the field of criminology and criminal history. The book is a companion volume to the exhibition of the same name, which can be viewed at the LA8 Museum in Baden-Baden until February 2024. This also explains the second axis of the book: the representation of the female criminal not only in science, but in art as well.

Scientific and artistic perspective

The exhibition is divided into two parts. In the first part of the exhibition, views of science, designed primarily by men, are contrasted with descriptions of the cases of some women criminals such as Charlotte Corday or Elizabeth Wise. In the second part, the previously unnoticed perspective of the criminal woman is highlighted. The question is how a new type of woman emerged in modern art at the beginning of the twentieth century, and how she was seen as secretly dangerous and criminal.

This structure is also reflected in the accompanying volume. The first three essays deal with the history of female criminality (Jadwiga Kamula), its definition (Marcus P. Carrier), and criminal physiognomy (Jadwiga Kamula). This is followed by an essay on women criminals by Russian criminologist Pauline Tarnowski (Jadwiga Kamula).

These articles are also interesting for lawyers. Anyone who has not yet dealt with criminology at all will discover a lot of useful information here. On the one hand, about the history of criminology (“the study of crime”) beginning in the nineteenth century. But also about its different forms, for example the so-called “classical school”. Particular attention is paid to Cesare Lombroso’s classification of offenders. This is based on the (now disproved) assumption that criminals can be identified by certain external characteristics (such as the shape of the skull or the position of the eyes).

A little crime story with a focus on women

However, anyone who has already dealt with criminal topics during law school will not learn much here. Because the criminal classification remains somewhat superficial. The association with female crime is interesting, but it is also taught in German universities.

The topics mentioned are followed by an article on “Biblical Judaism” (Bettina Oppenkamp) and two articles on female criminality during the Nazi era. Sabine Becker writes about “the criminal artist in the Nazi era.” Frauke Steinhauser deals with “the criminalization of artists who lived inappropriately during the Nazi era.” Both topics are particularly interesting for law students because the Nazi era is often neglected in legal training and sometimes not taught at all. On the other hand, the technical perspective is somewhat unusual for legal readers.

Christine Wolfe’s final article was on “Women as Criminals Reclaiming Their Will.” The author sheds light on abortion-related regulations over the past 150 years. At the very least, the basic principles as well as the current regulations and their reform discussion should already be known to aspiring lawyers. However, the journey through history is not that interesting.

Not a true crime book, but still exciting!

Anyone expecting Criminal Women to be a summary of current criminological findings about women criminals will be disappointed by this book. Because there is nothing more than demolition here. The examination of historical legal development is also only partial (for lawyers). However, the book is neither a criminology textbook nor a comprehensive legal historical treatise. Instead, individual topics related to female crime are identified and discussed.

Readers who were hoping for a real crime thriller will also be disappointed. Although the authors frequently mention real criminal cases and briefly discuss biographies of women criminals, this is clearly not the focus of the book.