Open AccessNicknames of Female Felons
Author(s) -
Barbara H. Zaitzow,
James K. Skipper,
Claudia Bryant
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
names
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.2
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1756-2279
pISSN - 0027-7738
DOI - 10.1179/nam.1997.45.2.83
Subject(s) - psychology , demography , social psychology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , sociology
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.