In contrast to the bulk of historical research on female offending, this thesis focuses, in particular, on women's petty offending. The first objective of the research was to redress the imbalance created by many previous studies that have highlighted the sexually related offences of women and to establish the participation of women in less overtly gendered crime. The analysis showed that women's offending was indeed mundane in nature and reflected their limited opportunities for offending, but also that, like men, women were largely summonsed for drunken and anti-social behaviour, breaching increasing regulatory legislation, and common assault. The second objective was to examine when and why women started to offend. The analysis showed that the onset and exacerbation of offending was directly linked to pressing social concerns and policing practices rather than an inherent criminality. Conversely, the third objective was to examine why women stopped offending, if indeed they did stop. The examination showed that reform and re-integration were not symbiotic. Re-integration often led to persistence in offending, particularly if their offending was a result of unhappy marital circumstances or alcohol-related. Reform was only possible when women ceased to be summonsed, not necessarily when they changed their behaviour. Criminal justice interventions were largely ineffective; a large proportion of women who desisted from offending did so in spite of punishment, not because of it.