10.1177/0886260505285722Journal of Interpersonal V iolencePollock et al. / Women Who Are Violent Violent Women Findings From the Texas Women Inmates Study

Prior research on violent crime by female offenders is reviewed. A Texas female prisoner sample is used to explore specific questions raised by the liter-ature review. Violent and nonviolent offenders were compared, looking specif-ically at race, socioeconomic status, having been raised in single-parent homes, criminal history, gang membership, marital status, and childhood abuse. Findings indicated that women who are violent were more likely to be younger, African American, unemployed, and having extensive criminal histo-ries. They were more likely to come from dysfunctional families with child-hood abuse. Limitations of the study were noted