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Feminism in criminology
Racial discrimination within the justice system
Racial discrimination within the justice system
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The attitude that women should not put themselves in situations or that what women wearing somehow encourages a rape, needs to be changed. Instead as a society we need to focus on not to rape, rather than how to prevent it from happening. Law enforcement is also an issue with the police department being comprised of mostly men it can be very embarrassing to talk about being a victim of such a heinous
Intersectionality is described in the article “Transformative Feminist Criminology: A Critical Re-thinking of a Discipline by Meda Chesney-Lind and Merry Morash as,” theoretical attention to intersectionality (i.e., combinations of gender with race, class, ethnicity, and other status markers that affect social life and individuals)” (290). The example given in the article deals more heavily with women and feminism. An example given in the text about intersectionality is,” socialist feminism made an important contribution to understanding that not just gender, but also class, results in oppression... countries where receive little education and hold low occupational status experience high levels of sexual violence. (290).
What is the role of women and crime? A majority of criminology theories do not heavily place women’s stance of crime and, as the emphasis of lawbreaking is focused mainly on men, Feminist theory of crime on the other hand attempts to justify crime and the part of women in society. In the book Criminology Goes to the Movies: Crime Theory and Popular Culture by Nicole Rafter explains crime using multiple alternatives of feminist theory to explain how women in society consider crime based on the societal role of women. in the movie Thelma and Louise, it portrays the struggle of women, as the men in their world overwhelming show their power keeping both the main characters Thelma and Louise under control exhibiting dominance over them. The conflict
Rape on the Night Shift is a documentary about the sexual assaults that some of the janitors suffer while working at night. This documentary reveals the injustice that these workers have to go through because most of them are undocumented and they don’t know their rights. The experiences of woman in this documentary is correlated with the feminist theory, the idea of seeing women unequal to men and the idea of the men having the power to control women. Indeed, the documentary let us see the gender inequality, exploitation, and the de-valuing of woman’s work. We see the feminist theory in the documentary when the managers or supervisors sexually abuse of their workers.
The 1996 film Fargo by the Joel and Ethan Coen captivates the rare heroics of a pregnant female officer from Brainerd, Minnesota. The film’s depiction of female heroics is a proponent for empowering women in the film industry. We are always accustomed to seeing men as the primary focus and center of a film and women as the impotent secondary character. Films today should start portraying women as the strong primary character and, a character that’s inspires women to make difference like Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) did. Film is a societal changing platform and The Coen brothers use that to bring some parity in our male dominant society.
Oxford University Press. Smart, C. (1990). Feminist approaches to criminology or postmodern woman meets atavistic man. In Gelsthorpe L and Morris A (eds). Feminist Perspectives in Criminology: 70-84.
One reason is that measurement lacks validity as self-reporting is the main method used. Societal roles may deter individuals from responding truthfully or even participating in the research. While the feminist movement has championed in pushing the agenda for equality for women not only in the United States but in societies across the globe, feminist theorists seek to challenge the masculine and feminine gender roles that are formed by societies and conform to role that are not gender biased.
Feminist criminology is a branch of criminology that focuses on the intersectionionality of gender and crime. It emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s as an academic response to the lack of attention given to women's experiences in the criminal justice system. Feminist criminology aims to understand how gender inequality and patriarchy affect women's experiences as offenders, victims, and criminal justice professionals. There are several schools of feminist criminology, each with its own unique perspective on the topic.
Women of color are the most targeted, prosecuted, and imprisoned women in the country and rapidly increasing their population within the prison systems. According to Nicholas Freudenberg, 11 out of every 1000 women will end up incarcerated in their lifetime, the average age being 35, while only five of them are white, 15 are Latinas, and 36 are black. These two groups alone make up 70 percent of women in prison, an astonishing rate compared to the low percentage comprise of within the entire female population in the country (1895). Most of their offenses are non-violent, but drug related, and often these women come from oppressive and violent backgrounds, where many of their struggles occurred directly within the home and from their own family.
It would hard for the women in the current 21st century to step into the shoes of their predecessors, a time before the women’s movement when women had few rights, their opinions were of miniscule value. In Susan Glaspell’s short story “A Jury of Her Peers” she illustrates to readers a time when men were more controlling of women, viewed themselves as superior, and the abuse and mental decline of Minnie Wright that led her to murder. Kathleen Wilson explains, “Much of the tension in “A Jury of Her Peers” results from what the women understand and what the men are blind to”. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale were able to determine Minnie’s state of mind from the kitchens’ condition, as the kitchen was wife’s domain. The men mock the messy kitchen and
The officers never suspected it was her because she was a woman. This ties back to feminism because women are seen to be too innocent and ‘fragile’ to do any act that is unexpected. Also, women were looked to be weaker and were seen differently than men. The text “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl is an excellent example to show feminism that mainly focused on how women are too innocent to do anything
Feminist theory shows the ways of a gender structured life . This culture is also displayed in Crime and Punishment by Sonya and Dunya. Feminist criticism is a type of literary criticism that was well known in the 1970’s. Women would begin taking apart the classics and analyzing how the author portrayed women. The women in Crime and Punishment , especially Sonya and Dunya have a stronger state of mind and are able to handle the pressures and struggles of life better than the men in the novel.
Consequently, there is evidence from studies that draw conclusions that there is gender bias in sentencing for both women and men. On the surface there appears to be a degree of preferential treatment or leniency in the criminal justice system. However, there are other factors that enshroud the whole aspect of biases that include class, race and the offence in question among others. There is need for the justice system to understand female offenders in order to be able to address it effectively and avoid the perpetual claims of bias which only signifies the
From the very beginning of time, society has never properly treated both genders as equals. It has been noted and observed that men have always been inherently gifted in being both powerful and dominant. As opposed to the women who are in possession of no such traits except to always be submissive and dutiful. In relations to gender inequality, oppression is a mechanism used by the men to assert total supremacy and jurisdiction over their inferiors in hopes of stunting these woman of reaching their fullest potential and it is only the most powerful women who exudes confidence and euphoria in hopes of establishing fairness. Margaret Atwood was one such author to terminate these outdated imposed treatments.
The locked room can metaphorically signify the social control and restrictions put by the patriarchal society on women and children. And coming out of the room “entails coming out into a different space of power and knowledge” (An extraordinary act of motherhood: a conversation with Emma Donoghue, Tom Ue). By giving Ma the ability to comprehend and use the limitations to her benefit, Donoghue has shown how women despite having the limited scope do try use the conventions of the society against itself. In order to avoid her perpetrator from interacting with her son Ma uses her body as a tool to distract him. Jack on the other hand is doubly marginalized.
