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While the problem of the intelligence factor in male criminality has been settled through several careful statistical studies which establish the fact that male criminals are not drawn from any one intelligence level, but from all levels in much the same proportion that these levels are found in the general population, the significance of the intelligence factor in the criminality of women has not been clearly shown. Certain researchers have reported considerable evidence that women prisoners scored lower on intelligence tests than the average for the general population; this is particularly true with respect to women incarcerated for conviction of sex offenses, primarily prostitution. Since it is generally conceded that prostitution is the crime of women, this finding implies that women offenders, in the majority of cases, are less intelligent than non-offenders. The paper tests this assumption by securing the results of the intelligence testing programs in the correctional institutions for women in a northeastern State. The psychologists of the several institutions answered a questionnaire prepared by the researchers, one of the items being the tabulation of the percentages of the inmates' scores falling into the various levels of the intelligence test in use (usually Wechsler Adult or Stanford-Binet). The results of the investigation show that the most common offense is indeed prostitution, but the findings do not support the hypothesis that the woman criminal is less intelligent than the average for the general population, most of the scores falling into "Average" or "Low Average." Investigators must look elsewhere than to differentials in intelligence to find the answer to the problem of female criminality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the problem of the intelligence factor in male criminality has been settled through several careful statistical studies which establish the fact that male criminals are not drawn from any one intelligence level, but from all levels in much the same proportion that these levels are found in the general population, the significance of the intelligence factor in the criminality of women has not been clearly shown. Certain researchers have reported considerable evidence that women prisoners scored lower on intelligence tests than the average for the general population; this is particularly true with respect to women incarcerated for conviction of sex offenses, primarily prostitution. Since it is generally conceded that prostitution is the crime of women, this finding implies that women offenders, in the majority of cases, are less intelligent than non-offenders. The paper tests this assumption by securing the results of the intelligence testing programs in the correctional institutions for women in a northeastern State. The psychologists of the several institutions answered a questionnaire prepared by the researchers, one of the items being the tabulation of the percentages of the inmates' scores falling into the various levels of the intelligence test in use (usually Wechsler Adult or Stanford-Binet). The results of the investigation show that the most common offense is indeed prostitution, but the findings do not support the hypothesis that the woman criminal is less intelligent than the average for the general population, most of the scores falling into "Average" or "Low Average." Investigators must look elsewhere than to differentials in intelligence to find the answer to the problem of female criminality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]