Introduction

This chapter begins by critiquing the representation of the women's reasons for offending as being a ‘rational choice’. Furthermore, the chapter introduces an alternative feminist conceptual framework to gain a more nuanced understanding of coercion as a pathway into crime for co-offending women. This framework is applied to the case studies analysed in this research by drawing on the women's testimonies and experiences, taken from the case file material. The framework of a ‘continuum of coercion’ highlights the ways in which abusive, controlling and/or obsessive relationships with a male partner may influence a woman's ‘decision’ to offend and suggests that in some instances, such behaviours should be understood as being part of the wider continuum of domestic violence.

A rational choice?

A key similarly in the construction of the co-accused women is that the influence and impact of the personal relationship between the co-offenders was minimised in each of the cases. Jane's relationship with Simon was represented as being a ‘wicked obsession’ and was diminished due to their communication being restricted to an online relationship. The abuse and control that Sarah allegedly experienced in her relationship with David was not acknowledged as a potential influencing factor on her offending in the news media material in particular. Furthermore, the impact of Alice and Janet's controlling relationships were also rarely acknowledged in news media discourse. Rather than attempting to understand the nature of the relationship between the co-offenders, both journalists and legal professionals resorted to over-simplistic narratives, which were mostly defined by concepts such as ‘rationality’ and ‘choice’ to explain the women's reasons for offending. This consequently restricted the women's explanations to familiar motifs, which reflect hegemonic white, middle-class male experiences and reasons for offending (Ballinger, 2012).

A key aspect of this over-simplification of the co-accused women's perspectives centred on the notion that their reasons for offending were often limited to their decision being a ‘rational choice’. A selection of evidential quotes from the case file material of each of the cases, which were also utilised in news media reports, have been outlined below: