Though American women are much less confined to the home these days, liberation does not always lead to useful pursuits. FBI statistics released last week indicate a record 18% jump in crimes in 1974, and women were involved in more of them than ever before. In the past 15 years, robberies committed by women have risen 306%, larcenies (mainly shoplifting) 404%, frauds and embezzlements 332%, and forgeries and counterfeitings 167%.
Women are committing mostly petty offenses−only one in six homicides is attributed to a woman−but criminologists expect them to work their way up...