| Abstract [eng] |
The dissertation aims to reveal the life experiences of women serving prison sentences and how they are represented in the media. To achieve this, it draws on feminist criminological theories and media analysis. Significant research on the lives of girls and women over the last two decades of the last century, covering a wide range of criminal experiences, has revealed common features in the life stories of women criminals, highlighting experiences of physical and sexual abuse, poverty, and substance or alcohol abuse. In the context of life course criminology, the theory of life trajectories leading to crime has emerged, highlighting the need to analyse life histories, focusing on childhood experiences and the challenges faced in adulthood, as well as tracing the scenarios that lead to re-offending. The research carried out in the Panevėžys women's prison has allowed to classify women's stories according to the following categories: the ordinary woman or the accidental offender, the victimised woman, the chronic offender and the woman belonging to a marginalised group. Meanwhile, the analysis of media content helped to identify the following images of women: the deceiver, who exploits people's trust for personal economic gain; the mother, who disregards the expectations of motherhood; the partner, who is also commonly portrayed as a violent person and an abuser of alcohol. |
