THE FINE LINE BETWEEN VICTIM AND OFFENDER

This is class CRJ 305 at ASU: Gender, crime. Book used: “The Invisible Women gender, crime, and justice” Author: Joanne Belknap fourth edition.
We know that sometimes, women and girls who have been victimized retaliate against their abuser. In some cases, these females are charged with criminal offenses. And while there has technically been a violation of the law, there are mitigating factors that we’d like the courts to take into consideration.

For this assignment, select a case where a woman is both the victim and the offender. It must be a case where the female offender’s criminal activity is somehow linked to her victimization (e.g., a domestic violence victim who kills her partner, a child molestation victim who kills her molester). There must have been sufficient media coverage for you to complete the required elements. In the past students have selected cases such as Mary Winkler, Marissa Alexander, Barbara Sheehan, Stacey Lannert, Susan Polk, Aileen Wournos and others.

For this assignment, address the following elements:

1. First, briefly summarize the victimization and how it led to the offense. FACTS ONLY (this should only take up about a page of the paper – at most)
2. What was the sentence imposed(note – the case must have already reached disposition – a pending case or one in which the defendant was not convicted are not appropriate for this particular case – for example, unless or until Jodi Arias is sentenced, you cannot use her as a subject; Casey Anthony was acquitted, so you cannot use her as a case study, either)?AGAIN – FACTS ONLY!!!! This section should not exceed a paragraph.
3. Assessment – this is the main focus of the paper, so the bulk of your paper should assess and analyze the sentence. HERE’S WHERE YOU MAY INTERJECT YOUR OPINIONS – Do you feel the sentence imposed was appropriate? Too harsh? Too lenient? [CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING BELOW, DEPENDING ON YOUR OPINION]: