Vol. 45 No. 2 (1997)
Research Article

Nicknames of Female Felons

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  • Barbara H. Zaitzow,
  • James K. Skipper,
  • Claudia Bryant
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/nam.1997.45.2.83

Published 1997-06-01

Copyright (c) 1997 Maney

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Abstract

An investigation of nicknaming among 113 female prisoners showed that nearly two-thirds of the women had a nickname. The nicknames were almost always accorded by family or peer group members, referred to physical or behavioral characteristics or were variations of given names, and were rarely negative. These findings differ sharply from earlier reports of nicknames of male criminals and male inmates. Several explanations for the findings are offered.

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