GCJ Ch1 Feminist criminology

What is feminism comes from the 1960s when various frames of resistance were coming about.

The university was a tool of empowerment to address the inequalities

Feminism acknowledges gender as the center principle of life.

1. Gender is the social construction of male and female behavior and attitudes.

Which is referred to masculine and feminine

2. Society is characterized by sexism which are the differential valuing of one gender over
the other/

Sexism is a built in component of patriarchy in which men dominate women and what is masculine is
given higher value

Women are excluded from disciplines as in criminology

In the 1970s feminist criminologists highlight the gender biases in theory and how women hve been
over looked in crime and criminal justice

3. The inclusion of female experiences and perspectives in theory and research

a. We must ensure that female voices are heard.
b. Feminist research attempts to uncover and explain similarities and differences
between the gender’s behaviors, attitudes, and experiences.

Using a feminist perspective includes examining both masculinity and femininity

Our gender inequality intersects with other multiple identities. Patricia Hill Collins calls this the matrix of
domination which includes racism, classism, heterosexism, ageism, ableism, and other interlocking
systems of oppression.

Feminism research is dualistic in nature it is subjective and objective

Such that feminist criminology is paradigm/theories that studies and explains criminal offending and
victimization. Which includes institutional responses and gendered and emphasizes using scientific
knowledge to study these issues.

Liberal feminist criminology

The equal rights approach is securing the same legal rights for women that men have.

Major cause of gender inequality is blocked opportunity.

They wish to dismantle gender discrimination in employment, education, government and other
aspects.

I.E. Emancipation theories of female offending seeks to explain what are the increases of female
offending in the late 60s
As legitimate opportunities opened up, so did criminal opportunities.

Also that the war on crime, became a practice of the war on women and minorities

Power Control Theory examines how social class, which is a mediating factor of gender results in
different rates of offending

Radical feminism looks at gender inequality/sexism as a fundamental form of oppression.

These criminologists look at the study of women as crime victims, as victims of violent crimes
perpetuated by men and the failure of the criminal justice system to protect women from violence.

The form of violence is sexual harassment, sexual assault, battering and homicide.

Previously the focus was on males street crime and the process to keep women safe while holding men
accountable.

This is where the work on the violence against women gave rise to.

Radical feminist criminology also characterizes men as oppressors likes to harass, abuse, and victimize
women

It overlooks female offending

Marxist feminist criminology prioritizes social class inequality over gender inequality

Societies with less social class inequality have les gender inequality because male dominance grows out
of unequal conditions

The errors of this perspectives is One form of inequality does not take precedence over others

Socialist feminist criminology examines the interaction of gender and social class on criminal
opportunity, victimization, and responses b the cj systems to offender and victim.

Gender must be acknowledged in looking at the construction of offender and victim

Contemporary criminology

Heteronormativity- hegemonic masculinity white, Christian, able-bodied, and heterosexual

Black feminist criminology builds on critical race feminist theory and black feminist theory to be a
standpoint theory to analyze the lives of black women by acknowledging multiple identities within the
community and society to examine domestic violence/intimate partner violence.

The violence experience by minorities is different.