RADFORD -- The United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976 and since, 11 women have been executed for murders. Each of those cases involves a "personal story with unique tragic elements," says Radford University professor Mary Atwell in her new book, Wretched Sisters: Examining Gender and Capital Punishment.

In Wretched Sisters, Atwell (right) examines each of the 11 cases in detail and explains common themes that reflect how the criminal justice system often defines crimes committed by women. Atwell also explains how many cases exhibited common factors that worked against the women such as prosecutors' and governors' political agendas, heightened media attention and the defendants' inability to afford good legal counsel.

"So few women are executed in the United States, and I wanted to determine the reasons behind the few executions that have occurred in the modern period," Atwell said. "After all my research, my conclusion is that although most of these women committed serious crimes, they also did not fit the definition of what our society says a woman should be. They failed to live up to the expectations of womanhood. That influenced the decision to put them to death. Each case is quite sad in its own way."

Atwell researched Wretched Sisters over three years and traveled to each state where the trials had taken place. Her research relied on official and unofficial sources, such as trial transcripts, briefs and media reports. Five RU graduate students helped with the book research.

Wretched Sisters was published by Peter Lang Publishing.

Atwell is a criminal justice professor at RU and is the author of Equal Protection of the Law? Gender and Justice in the United States and Evolving Standards of Decency: Popular Culture and Capital Punishment. She holds a Ph.D. in history from Saint Louis University and came to RU in 1988 and joined the university's criminal justice department in 1993.