Abstract
In this chapter, we explore media representations of criminalised girls and women in Aotearoa New Zealand between 1950 and 1959. We draw from a content analysis of two periodicals, New Zealand Truth and New Zealand Woman's Weekly, which were chosen for their wide circulations and their attendant influence on social debate in New Zealand. We will explore how representations of violence, delinquency and abortion drew from the gendered norms of this historical era. However, we will also examine the sympathy towards women offenders and the critiques of both society and the criminal justice system that sometimes emerged in magazine articles and letters from readers. This chapter will highlight the complex tensions inherent in the discourses around gender and justice in 1950s' Aotearoa New Zealand.