NCJ Number
138514
Date Published
1991
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This essay considers what the 21st century might look like if conventional criminal justice policies and practices were abandoned and a feminist orientation toward justice were embraced.
Abstract
The identification of values key to feminist belief does not automatically provide a specific formula for better responding to crime and other conflicts but does offer some beginning guides for approaching the future. A critical standard to facilitate making choices is to identify the kinds of behavior and response that will realize the goal of the greatest possible harmony. Rather than discover how to eradicate crime, the task is to determine how to behave according to feminist values and a desire for harmony. An acceptance of human equality and recognition of the interdependence of all people calls for rejection of several current common tendencies such as the idea that those who cause injury or harm to others should suffer severance of the common bonds of respect and concern that bind members of a community. A feminist orientation, which means increased awareness of the role and responsibility of society in the development of conflict, suggests that individuals, groups, and societies must accept more responsibility for preventing and reducing those conditions, values, and structures that produce and support violence and strife. During the transition process and when the exercise of power over others is indicated, it is necessary to honor more completely certain familiar principles and to approach restriction and control of others with trepidation, restraint, caution, and care. 5 notes and 16 references