Criminal Women and Criminal Justice: The Limits to, and Potential of, Feminist and Left Realist Perspectives (From Criminological Perspectives: A Reader, P 475-483, 1996, John Muncie, Eugene McLaughlin, and Mary Langan, eds. -- See NCJ- 161531)

• NCJ Number: 161555
• Author(s): P Carlen
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications Ltd
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Abridged from "Issues in Realist Criminology," P 51-69, 1992.

Annotation

After critiquing left realism radical criminology and the concepts of some feminist scholars regarding criminology, this essay proposes a feminist realist criminological agenda.

Abstract

After identifying the strengths of left realist criminology, the author criticizes it for its positivistic, essentializing, and deterministic tendencies. She is also concerned about the theoretical and political implications of the perspectives advocated by feminists such as Smart and Cain. Her criticism of these perspectives focuses on what she describes as their overly theoretical, separatist, and gendercentric tendencies. The latter part of the essay presents the author's feminist realist criminological agenda that involves the deconstruction and theory development of the problematic relation between women and crime and the development of policies and campaigns that aim to right some of the wrongs encountered by women offenders in the criminal justice and penal systems. The agenda consists of academic activities and campaigning and policy tasks. The latter agenda focuses on fundamental aims, general strategies, short- term achievable goals for the relief of women in the criminal justice and penal systems, and long-term programs that are not achievable under current political conditions. Overall, the author suggests that it is crucial and possible for feminists to continue to work within as well as against criminology. 23 references