Causes of Women's Delinquency in Pakistan: A Case Study Conducted in District Jail Sargodha

Abstract

Women delinquency in Pakistan is a phenomenon that demonstrates the social, economic, and cultural inequalities that are deeply entrenched in the context of influencing the involvement of women in criminal activities. This paper identifies the cause and trends of female delinquency using a qualitative case study carried out in the District Jail Sargodha, Punjab. The study was conducted to find out the key socioeconomic, psychological, and environmental conditions that led women into crime and the experiences of women prior to and post incarceration. The qualitative research design was employed which entailed ten in-depth interviews on incarcerated women through a convenience sampling approach. Thematic analysis demonstrated that there are several interconnected causes such as poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence, peer pressure, revenge, and patriarchal oppression. Women were also predisposed to criminal behavior by psychological distress and social isolation. It was also found that the prisoners in the prisons with their conditions characterized by neglect, abuse and insufficient rehabilitation services, tended to make the emotional and social states of women inmates even worse and thus move even closer to recidivism instead of reformation. The paper has concluded that structural inequality, gender-based discrimination, and poor social safety systems are the major factors that contribute to female delinquency in Pakistan. It prescribes extensive policy changes that are based on gender sensitive criminal justice processes, prisons education and vocational training, and post release rehabilitation systems to guarantee effective reentry into society.