NCJ Number
197571
Date Published
2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This chapter analyzes how the emotion-laden concept of "danger" has been used by criminologists to frame discussions of women's criminality, fear of crime, and criminal victimization.
Abstract
"Danger," strictly defined, means "peril and uncertainty." It is linked to risk and being under threat, and it is a focus that permeates criminology, since "crime" constitutes a threat to stability, normalcy, and safety. Criminologists have attempted to explain a sense of danger through analyses of the concept of "fear of crime." This chapter argues that women's fear of crime is viewed as part of the natural malaise of modern life and is yoked to women's place in a society, which takes for granted many dangers to women. Rebecca and Russell Dobash (1992) propose that the nature of relations between men and women, men's consequent demands and expectations of wives, support for the prerogatives and power of husbands, and cultural beliefs that sustain individuals' attitudes of marital inequality combine to such an extent that collectively women are more at risk of violence in intimate relations than in public spaces. Feminist criminologists document the hypocrisy of the criminal justice system, accusing it of failing to protect women from men's widespread abuses in a society that supports, maintains, and reproduces gender inequality. Further, criminologists' study of fear of crime neglects the domestic nature of a vast majority of men's violence toward women that may contribute to women's fear and anxiety about their own safety; women are perceived as though they fear only the unknown male stranger. A study of the pervasive sense of danger among women must encompass feminist claims about women's fear, i.e., that women's anxiety is an insecurity that stems from a fear of men. Criminology's use of the concept of danger overlooks what might promote greater safety for both men and women, i.e., the promotion of equality. 60 references and 4 discussion questions