Rita J. Simon

In the past thirty years, women and crime has become a major intellectual and professional specialty. The Crimes Women Commit: The Punishments They Receive represents the third edition of Women in Crime, a classic in the field by Rita J. Simon first published in 1975. This revised and updated edition takes advantage of the fact that women are more represented in official crime statistics today than they have been at any time since systemic national data has been available. Rita J. Simon and Heather Ahn-Redding present the most current demographic data and updates of the arrest, conviction, and prison statistics reported in the first and second editions as they examine issues such as women's labor force participation, the percentage of female-headed households in which women are the caretakers of young children, as well as trends in how female crime statistics are reported. This classic text will become an essential tool for teachers and researchers within criminology and criminal justice, and among the subfields within sociology, psychology, and economics, where research on women who commit crimes has grown into a major area of interest.

In the past thirty years, women and crime has become a major intellectual and professional specialty. The Crimes Women Commit: The Punishments They Receive represents the third edition of Women in Crime, a classic in the field by Rita J. Simon first published in 1975. This revised and updated edition takes advantage of the fact that women are more represented in official crime statistics today than they have been at any time since systemic national data has been available. Rita J. Simon and Heather Ahn-Redding present the most current demographic data and updates of the arrest, conviction, and prison statistics reported in the first and second editions as they examine issues such as women's labor force participation, the percentage of female-headed households in which women are the caretakers of young children, as well as trends in how female crime statistics are reported. This classic text will become an essential tool for teachers and researchers within criminology and criminal justice, and among the subfields within sociology, psychology, and economics, where research on women who commit crimes has grown into a major area of interest.

The obstacles to assimilation and treatment of immigrant women are major issues confronting the leading immigrant-receiving nations today-the United States, Canada, and Australia. This volume provides a range of perspectives on the concerns, the sources of problems, how issues might be addressed, and the future of immigrant women. It is based upon a two-part issue of the journal Gender Issues, and contains a new introduction by the editor. The first section focuses on labor force experiences of women who have immigrated to the United States and Australia from Mexico and Latin America, Eastern Europe, Korea, the Philippines, India and other parts of Asia. Nancy Foner assesses the complex and contradictory ways that migration changes women's status. Cynthia Crawford focuses on Mexican and Salvadoran women who have recently moved into janitorial work in Los Angeles. M.D.R. Evans and Tatjiana Lucik analyze labor force participation of immigrants in Australia and family strategies of women migrants from the former Yugoslavia against the experiences of woman migrants from the Mediterranean world and other parts of the Slavic world. Economist Harriet Duleep reviews what is known as the family investment model. Monica Boyd tackles the controversial issue of the leading immigrant-receiving nations' unwillingness to declare gender an explicit ground for persecution and thus for gaining -refugee status. The second section deals with social class and English language acquisition, the obstacles women have had to overcome in gaining refugee status in the United States and Canada, and a comparison of movement patterns between different commentaries in Mexico and the United States on the part of Mexican male and female immigrants. Contributors include Suzanne M. Sinke, Katharine Donato, and Nina Toren. Immigrant Women will be valuable to researchers in women's studies, population demographics, as well as those teaching courses in sociology, history, and immigration. Rita James Simon is university professor in the School of Public Affairs at the Washington College of Law at American University. She is editor of Gender Issues and author of The American Jury, The Insanity Defense: A Critical Assessment of Law and Policy in the Post-Hinckley Era (with David Aaronson), Adoption, Race, and Identity (with Howard Altstein), In the Golden Land: A Century of Russian and Soviet Jewish Immigration, Social Science Data and Supreme Court Decisions (with -Rosemary Erickson), and Abortion: Statutes, Policies, and Public Attitudes the World Over.

Thirty years after it was first published, the issues raised in The Jury and the Defense of Insanity remain pertinent. Rita James Simon examines how motivated and competent juries are, how well jurors understand and follow judges' instructions, their understand-ing of expert testimony, and the extent to which their own backgrounds and experiences influence their decisions. Simon provides a rare opportunity to observe how jurors go about the process of deliberating and reaching a verdict by following them into the jury room and recording their deliberations. This pathbreaking study of jury room behavior provides compelling evidence of the effectiveness of our trial by jury system.The Jury and the Defense of Insanity was the product of an experimental study con-ducted as part of the University of Chicago Jury Project. Over 1,000 jurors were chosen to participate, not as volunteers, but as part of their regular jury duty, in two experimental trials, one on a charge of housebreaking, the other of incest. In each the insanity de-fense was raised. Court judges instructed the jurors to consider the recorded trials they were about to hear with all the care and seriousness they would give to a real criminal prosecution, and the taped recordings of their deliberations make it clear that they did just that. These recordings, along with responses to detailed questionnaires, yielded significant data, equally applicable to civil as to criminal cases. We learn their reactions to their fellow jurors; personal evaluations of the quality and effectiveness of delibera-tions; the degree to which religion, sex, social status, education, and like factors affect participation in and influence on the course of the deliberation; and the recounting of and reliance upon personal experience in seeking to reach a verdict, among other in-sights furnished by this study.This is an exact record not a description or recollected account of the struggle of a jury to weigh evidence and achieve a just verdict. For lawyers whose job it is to win civil and criminal cases, for behavioral scientists who study male and female reactions in their cultural environment to the circumstances that confront them, and to all who are interested in how people behave and why, in a dramatic, socially significant situation, this is a fascinating and revealing book.

The role, status, and treatment of women is one of the major issues confronting the military today. This volume provides a range of perspectives on the magnitude of concerns, the sources of problems, how issues might best be addressed, and the future for women in the armed services. It is based on a special issue of the journal Gender Issues, supplemented with additional contributions from leading scholars.Historical and theoretical perspectives are provided by Lorry M. Fenner and Jean Bethke Elshtain. Fenner focuses on the role of women in the military since 1940, and argues for broader inclusion of women as well as other groups that have previously been restricted from full participation. Elshtain analyzes the extraordinary ability of war to draw both women and men into civic life, and observes how it calls forth and establishes a sense of particular identity for both men and women.Critical views are provided by other scholars. Laura L. Miller examines the feminist movement's insistence on full participation in combat units. Former Army chaplain Marie deYoung provides qualitative and quantitative data on military readiness and unit cohesion in mixed gender units. Leading military scholars (Mady W. Segal, David R. Segal, Jerald G. Bachman, Peter Freedman-Doan, and Patrick M. O'Malley) review national surveys comparing male and female high school seniors' responses to surveys conducted on questions about their propensity to enlist. Male-female differences are also addressed by Judith Hicks Steihm, who looks at the opinions each group has about the capabilities and performance of women. She finds differences by rank on questions as to how hard female soldiers work as compared to male soldiers and whether women are ready for combat duty.Historically, the military has provided minorities equal opportunity. Brenda L. Moore and Schulyler C. Webb examine whether or not this is still perceived to be the case in today's Navy. They focus on different perceptions by women and men, and by African American women in particular. Finally, William O'Neill examines whether the post-cold war downsized military will find women soldiers more or less important. Drawing upon social science research, historical data, and contemporary opinion surveys, Women in the Military is a cutting-edge assessment of a major gender issue in the United States. It will be valuable to researchers in women's studies, as well as those teaching courses in sociology, history, and military studies.Rita James Simon is University Professor in the School of Public Affairs and the Washington College of Law at American University. She is the editor of Gender Issues and author of The American Jury, the Insanity Defense: A Critical Assessment of Law and Policy in the Post-Hinkley Era (with David Aaronson), Adoption, Race and Identity (with Howard Alstein), In the Golden Land: A Century of Russian and Soviet Jewish Immigration, Social Science Data and Supreme Court Decisions (with Rosemary Erickson), and Abortion: Statutes, Policies, and Public Attitudes the World Over.

Public Opinion in the United States tracks developments in American society since World War II through the lens of public opinion. The authors assess national public opinion poll data from 1945 to 2008, targeting opinions about African Americans, Jews, Muslim Americans, gays and lesbians, immigration, abortion, and affirmative action.The authors consider whether American attitudes have developed faster than Supreme Court decisions in the areas surveyed. They assess how social change is processed by the public, how people responded to the race riots of the 1950s and 1960s, and how the war in Vietnam shaped new perspectives on issues such as race, citizenship rights, and the role of the individual. Each chapter begins by introducing the political, social, or international events that were critical in setting the stage for influencing public opinion in each decade since World War II.The volume provides a unique portrait of American society and how it has changed over the last sixty plus years. The reader will learn whether Americans are more or less prejudiced against blacks, Jews, and Muslims than they were in earlier years; whether their views on immigration, affirmative action, and abortion have changed; and when views have changed, in what direction. Do men and women, rich and poor, more and less educated, secular versus religious share the same views? And if there are differences, what directions do those differences take? Th is work describes American society in 2008 compared to the post-World War II era, and it offers stunning glimpses at the future.

As part of its Education Amendments, the United States Congress passed Title IX in 1972 to ensure that no person should be discriminated against in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. In the decades since, Title IX has had, among other effects, a marked increase on school athletic programs for women and girls at both the high school and college level. Despite this, a range of questions have been raised about the effectiveness of the federal government's enforcement, and also the impact on male athletics. The government can enact legislation, but how it works remains the domain of administrators at one end and thousands of athletes at the other. Sporting Equality reviews the impact of Title IX thirty years after its passage, and suggests future areas of contention.This new title includes the major findings and recommendations of the Secretary of Education's Commission on Opportunities in Athletics established in 2002, as well as the commission's minority report. These contributions are followed by seven chapters that analyze and assess the strength and weakness of Title IX and offer recommendations for strengthening or changing its goals and objectives. These include: Kimberly A. Yuracko, "Title IX and the Problem of Gender Equality in Athletics"; Eric C. Dudley, Jr. and George Rutherglen, "A Comment on the Report of the Commission to Review Title IX"; Barbara Murray, "How to Evaluate the Implementation of Title IX at Colleges and Universities and Attitudes and Interest of Students Regarding Athletics"; John J. Cheslock and Deborah Anderson, "Lessons From Research on Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics"; Valerie M. Bonnette, "The Little Fusses Over Title IX."The book concludes with two controversial chapters. The first, by Leo Kocher, argues that Title IX has been detrimental to male athletics, especially gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, and track, while the second by Ellen J. Staurowsky claims that Title IX has not gone far enough in providing women athletes with the equality they deserve. This volume will be of interest to specialists in the sociology of sports, women's studies scholars, and sports educators.

This unprecedented study of sex trafficking, forced labor, organ trafficking, and sex tourism across twenty-four nations highlights the experiences of the victims, perpetrators, and anti-traffickers involved in this brutal trade. Combining statistical data with intimate accounts and interviews, journalist Stephanie Hepburn and justice scholar Rita J. Simon create a dynamic volume sure to educate and spur action. Hepburn and Simon recount the lives of victims during and after their experience with trafficking, and they follow the activities of traffickers before capture and their outcomes after sentencing. Each chapter centers on the trafficking practices and anti-trafficking measures of a single country: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Niger, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Syria, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Examining these nations' laws, Hepburn and Simon reveal gaps in legislation and enforcement and outline the cultural norms and biases, societal assumptions, and conflicting policies that make trafficking scenarios so pervasive and resilient. This study points out those most vulnerable in each nation and the specific cultural, economic, environmental, and geopolitical factors that contribute to each nation's trafficking issues. Furthermore, the study also highlights common phenomena that governments and international anti-traffickers should consider in their fight against this illicit trade.

This unprecedented study of sex trafficking, forced labor, organ trafficking, and sex tourism across twenty-four nations highlights the experiences of the victims, perpetrators, and anti-traffickers involved in this brutal trade. Combining statistical data with intimate accounts and interviews, journalist Stephanie Hepburn and justice scholar Rita J. Simon create a dynamic volume sure to educate and spur action. Hepburn and Simon recount the lives of victims during and after their experience with trafficking, and they follow the activities of traffickers before capture and their outcomes after sentencing. Each chapter centers on the trafficking practices and anti-trafficking measures of a single country: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Niger, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Syria, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Examining these nations' laws, Hepburn and Simon reveal gaps in legislation and enforcement and outline the cultural norms and biases, societal assumptions, and conflicting policies that make trafficking scenarios so pervasive and resilient. This study points out those most vulnerable in each nation and the specific cultural, economic, environmental, and geopolitical factors that contribute to each nation's trafficking issues. Furthermore, the study also highlights common phenomena that governments and international anti-traffickers should consider in their fight against this illicit trade.

This book focuses on military conscription in 22 countries that represent the world's regions. The purpose is to shed light on the history, politics, and main events that led to the choice of conscription or professional military forces in the countries under study. While we acknowledge that practical and technological developments played major roles in this choice, we also understand that racial and gender relations, social group and political regime dynamics, regional influences, and international forces also affected military composition and relations to the rest of the society. Through this review, we aim at providing an easy-to-access source of knowledge about military mobilization policies and historical developments as well as the main ideas, politics, and events that shaped them. Through this review, we offer a glimpse on developments that influenced societies and political systems and were reflected in their militaries.

Gay and Lesbian Communities the World Over examines the treatment and status of gays and lesbians in 21 countries around the world. The countries included are Canada, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa, India, China, Japan, and Australia. The book explores the history of homosexuality dating back to ancient Greece and Rome, as well as attitudes toward gays and lesbians within the world's most prominent religions, the arts, literature, and film. This investigation is unique due to its comprehensive and innovative analysis of a wide range of topics concerning gay and lesbian communities across a large number of countries. The authors report on the rights of gay and lesbian citizens in the countries listed above, as for example the right to marry, adopt, serve in the military, hold certain occupational positions. They also describe the status of gay and lesbian citizens as for example, the legality of homosexuality and sanctioned punishments. When available, public opinion data are reported on how respondents feel about gays and lesbians in their country as well as their opinions on what rights should be afforded to this group. Data are reported on respondents' opinions on allowing gay marriage, civil unions, adoption, and allowing gays to openly serve in the military. The representative sample of countries in this study will help scholars get a better sense of the status of gays and lesbians across the globe.

Public Opinion in the United States tracks developments in American society since World War II through the lens of public opinion. The authors assess national public opinion poll data from 1945 to 2008, targeting opinions about African Americans, Jews, Muslim Americans, gays and lesbians, immigration, abortion, and affirmative action.The authors consider whether American attitudes have developed faster than Supreme Court decisions in the areas surveyed. They assess how social change is processed by the public, how people responded to the race riots of the 1950s and 1960s, and how the war in Vietnam shaped new perspectives on issues such as race, citizenship rights, and the role of the individual. Each chapter begins by introducing the political, social, or international events that were critical in setting the stage for influencing public opinion in each decade since World War II.The volume provides a unique portrait of American society and how it has changed over the last sixty plus years. The reader will learn whether Americans are more or less prejudiced against blacks, Jews, and Muslims than they were in earlier years; whether their views on immigration, affirmative action, and abortion have changed; and when views have changed, in what direction. Do men and women, rich and poor, more and less educated, secular versus religious share the same views? And if there are differences, what directions do those differences take? Th is work describes American society in 2008 compared to the post-World War II era, and it offers stunning glimpses at the future.

Gay and Lesbian Communities the World Over examines the treatment and status of gays and lesbians in 21 countries around the world. The countries included are Canada, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa, India, China, Japan, and Australia. The book explores the history of homosexuality dating back to ancient Greece and Rome, as well as attitudes toward gays and lesbians within the world's most prominent religions, the arts, literature, and film. This investigation is unique due to its comprehensive and innovative analysis of a wide range of topics concerning gay and lesbian communities across a large number of countries. The authors report on the rights of gay and lesbian citizens in the countries listed above, as for example the right to marry, adopt, serve in the military, hold certain occupational positions. They also describe the status of gay and lesbian citizens as for example, the legality of homosexuality and sanctioned punishments. When available, public opinion data are reported on how respondents feel about gays and lesbians in their country as well as their opinions on what rights should be afforded to this group. Data are reported on respondents' opinions on allowing gay marriage, civil unions, adoption, and allowing gays to openly serve in the military. The representative sample of countries in this study will help scholars get a better sense of the status of gays and lesbians across the globe.

Voting and Elections the World Over examines the electoral process across twenty-two countries. The book is a quick reference source for information about the major issues to consider when analyzing elections and their administration across nations. Thus, Voting and Elections the World Over looks at not only the type of electoral system in these countries, but also describes who administers elections; which are the offices people can vote for; who is allowed to vote with a particular emphasis on women's voting rights as well as the voting rights of felons. Furthermore, it provides information on the voting process and whether it is compulsory, the major political and financial regulations in the twenty-two countries pertaining to the conduct of elections, and information about voter turnout for national elections over at least the past ten years. The book provides useful reference information about the year when elections were first held in the countries we look at and information on when women received suffrage across these nations.

The Defense of Insanity, The World Over is the 10th in a series of books that examines and compares social issues or social problems from an explicitly comparative perspective. This volume examines and compares the criteria and procedures surrounding the defense of insanity across twenty-two countries. In addition to the criteria for each of the countries, Simon and Ahn-Redding report the burden of proof; whether this burden is on the side of the defense or the prosecution; the degree, beyond a reasonable doubt or by a preponderance of the evidence; the form the verdict takes; who typically decides, a judge or a jury; what role experts play in the proceedings; and what happens to the defendant if he or she is found not guilty by reason of insanity. The Defense of Insanity, The World Over provides a history of the defense of insanity going as far back as ancient Greek and Roman societies including the development of the defense in modern legal codes beginning with the British criteria in 1265. This one-of-a-kind study also looks at how the defense of insanity is treated in Jewish and Islamic law. Simon and Ahn-Redding have crafted an expert study that will appeal to scholar of sociology, criminal justice, and international studies.

Native American Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories presents twenty interviews with Native American adoptees raised in non-Native homes. Through the in-depth interviews they conduct with each participant, the authors explore complex questions of cultural identity formation. The participants of the study represent a range of positive and negative experiences of transracial adoption. Regardless of their personal experiences, however, all twenty respondents indicate that they are supporters of the Indian Child Welfare Act and that they believe that Native children should be raised in Native households whenever possible. However, eighteen of the twenty respondents concede that non-Native families can raise Native children to be happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults. Through the interviews, Simon and Hernandez allow readers to better understand the different experiences of Native American adoptees.

Native American Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories presents twenty interviews with Native American adoptees raised in non-Native homes. Through the in-depth interviews they conduct with each participant, the authors explore complex questions of cultural identity formation. The participants of the study represent a range of positive and negative experiences of transracial adoption. Regardless of their personal experiences, however, all twenty respondents indicate that they are supporters of the Indian Child Welfare Act and that they believe that Native children should be raised in Native households whenever possible. However, eighteen of the twenty respondents concede that non-Native families can raise Native children to be happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults. Through the interviews, Simon and Hernandez allow readers to better understand the different experiences of Native American adoptees.

Intercountry Adoptees Tell Their Stories reflects the thoughts and experiences of adult transracial adoptees. The authors conducted in-depth interviews in order to understand and examine the adoptees. The authors conducted in-depth interviews in order to understand and examine the adoptees' attitudes towards identity, culture, race, and parenting within a multicultural household. The men and women interviewed in this study offer the readers a detailed and personal glimpse into their worlds. They represent a range of positive and negative adoption stories and describe the complexities of ethnic identity formation. Each experience related in this volume is unique not only in demographic characteristics, but in the journey each participant has undertaken in his or her transition to adulthood and identity formation. What emerges from the interviews is a broad collection of voices speaking out from all corners of the country about their adoption.

A Comparative Analysis of Capital Punishment provides a concise and detailed history of the death penalty. Incorporating and synthesizing public opinion data and empirical studies, Simon and Blaskovich's work compares, across societies, the offense types punishable by death, the level of public support for the death penalty, the forms the penalty takes, and the categories of persons exempt from punishment. It examines the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent to violent offenses, especially homicide, the extent to which innocent persons have become the victims of capital punishment, and occurrences of state sponsored genocide and democide. This book is a practical and useful tool for public policy makers, criminal justice practitioners, students, and anyone who seeks to better understand the worldwide debate on this controversial social issue.

Pornography is a volatile issue in the United States—depending on the source of opinion, it can be viewed as either demeaning or empowering. Global Perspectives on Social Issues: Pornography asks whether the issue is similarly contentious around the world. Richard Procida and Rita Simon collect in this volume a wealth of data on laws, regulations, and public opinion regarding pornography in a wide sample of countries in both the West and the East. The authors pose and discuss the following questions: Is censorship of pornography correlated with authoritarianism? Does the censorship of pornography lead to the censorship of other more valuable speech, such as political or artistic speech? How much of a factor is pornography in violence against women and the sexual abuse of children? Is the United States more, or less, prudish than other nations around the world, particularly other Western democratic nations? The book reveals a variety of approaches to the treatment of pornography, providing sociologists, legal scholars, and women's rights activists with a valuable reference tool.