Den dubbla avvikaren : En kvalitativ studie om frivårdsinspektörers konstruktioner av kvinnor som begår brott

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study has been to examine how female probation officers construct the concept of women who commit crime. This have been done by examining how the probation officers describe the phenomenon from their own point of view, how they perceive society's view of the phenomenon, how they describe the women's self-images and how their own perceptions affect the treatment of these women. To fulfill this aim the study is based on qualitative interviews with five female probation officers. We analyzed their statements by using Gender theory, Goffmans stigma term and Beckers deviant term. The result of this study shows that women who commit crime are described more as victims than offenders and that they are constructed as deviant in two ways; both in relation to the law but also in relation to their gender. The female probation officers construct the women as carriers of feelings of guilt and shame and that they have issues with their own identities. It also shows that the female probation officers believe in treating male and female clients the same way, although the result of this study shows that they probably don’t.