NCJ Number
176996
Editor(s)
K Daly,
L Maher
Date Published
1998
Length
292 pages
Annotation
This is an edited collection of accessible articles on gender, crime, and justice, containing key works in criminology and law by well-known feminist scholars.
Abstract
The 14 selections, chosen for their empirical focus and sophisticated modes of interpretation, raise unresolved problems for feminist work in criminology. Themes include the construction of women in feminist, legal, and criminological discourses; the blurred boundaries of victimization and criminalization; masculinities and violence; and the crossroads and intersections of class-race-gender, politics, and justice. The editors' introductory essay provides an overview of the field, past and present, and analyzes the shifts that occurred in feminist thinking between the 1970s and the 1990s. The editors suggest that feminists need to move beyond the familiar critiques of androcentrism in the field. They propose that instead of asking "Where are the women?" or "Where is sex/gender criminology?" feminists should say "Here are the women (and men)" and "Here is sex/gender in criminal law, lawbreaking, and state responses to harm." Although acknowledging the current vitality and energy of feminist scholarship, the editors also suggest that feminists in criminology stand at the crossroads of discourse and realism and of academic and activist knowledge. Chapter notes