Feminist Theories Flashcards
Malestream sociology and invisibility of women
Gender issues and female offending forgotten or ignored until recently in most sociological theories of crime; most studies were about male offenders and deviants.
What do feminists also point out?
Female victimisation ignored, particularly female victimisation by men in domestic and sexual violence.
What did Heidensohn suggest were the reasons for invisibility of females?
- Academics and researchers in sociology of C&D mostly men
- ‘Malestream’ m/c sociologists had romanticised male preoccupation with macho w/c deviance
- Less to study due to relatively low level of female crime and often invisible nature of female crime
Growth of feminist criminology
Since feminist movement there has been growing interest in female C&D led by feminist researchers. They study female offending, womens treatment by criminal justice system, study of female victimization and gender gap.
What did Smart (1976) point out?
Women offenders often seen as double deviants, they not only break law but breach traditional gender roles, so stigmatised compared to men even if less serious.
Messerschmidt’s research
How crime and violence, including domestic violence, can be means of ‘accomplishing masculinity’ for men who have failed to achieve this in other areas of their lives owes much to impact of feminist ideas
Feminist contributions to study of crime and deviance
- New focus on female offending and experiences of women in criminal justice system
- Application of existing theories, criticisms to them and development of new theories
- New focus on types of victimisation suffered by women, particularly from male physical and sexual violence
- Challenge to popular misconception women enjoy ‘chivalry’ from criminal justice system and treated more leniently than men
‘Amnesia’
Forget about female crime
‘Neglect and distortion’
Female offending neglected- don’t think it happens or ignores it
