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Eaays about feminist theory
Strengths and limitations of feminist theory
Strengths and limitations of feminist theory
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Feminist theories are a group of related theories that share several principles in common. Fourth, feminist theories not only attempt to explain criminal offending, victimization, and criminal justice processing but also combine theory with practice so as to develop more equitable and just solutions to the crime problem. First, feminist theories maintain that gender—the socially constructed expectations about the attitudes and behaviors of women and men that are typically referred to as femininity and masculinity, respectively—is a central organizing component of social life, including criminal offending, victimization, and criminal justice processing. Therefore, a third fundamental principle of feminist theories is to examine criminal offending,
This could be because women are evaluated as the gender, and it does not take into account personal differences. Adler’s liberation thesis seems to be outdated at this point, as the liberation seems to have passed, and still women mostly commit the same crimes and are not much freer. Heidonsohn’s idea of the patriarchal society inflicting control over women does seem much more accurate, as many points can be attested to by most females, however it is still too deterministic, and does not take into account women who do not fight back against the system, which, according to statistics, is 89% of females. Carlen’s study suffers from generalising 39 women to all criminal women, which weakens the argument substantially. Overall, the strongest argument would be Heidensohn, although a better argument would be one that takes into account personal
Victor Rios states in his well-renowned book Punished, “In 1924, sociologist Edwin Sutherland discussed how boys were taught to be “rough and tough”, rendering them more likely than girls to become delinquent.” (Rios, 2011, p. 131) This quotation alone means that for almost 100 years, if not longer, boys have had a criminality stigma attached to them just because of their gender. Not only is it completely out of anybody’s control to pick their gender, it is also extremely sexist to say that boys are more likely than girls to become deviant in behavior. There are numerous statistics that prove how men are more often targeted than women when it comes to criminal acts, as well as how they are perceived to be more violent and less likely to comply
A consistent feature of the statistics, not only in England and Wales but across Europe and America, is that far fewer women are convicted of crime than men – a fact which has changed little over the years. Female offenders also show a different pattern of offending being less involved in violent offences and proportionately more involved in theft. In general most now accept that girls and women do commit fewer offences than boys. GENDER AND PATTERNS OF CRIME Writing in 1977 Carol Smart stated: Our knowledge is still in its infancy. In comparison with the massive documentation on all aspects of male delinquency and criminality, the amount of work carried out on the area of women and crime is extremely limited.
While most of the violent crimes that happens most are them are belongs to men, women have not been the wilting flowers promoted so heartily by Victorian adorers and (right or wrong) often evident in today's society. Before we get into detail about the fascinating phenomenon of the Black Widow, it is worth a brief overview of women's escalating role in the world of violent crime, particularly in the United States.
The violation of both cultural and gendered norms, results in women offenders to be labelled as mad, bad, or sad, and as the sexualised female offender, masculinised female offender, mad female offender, and the victimised female offender, by the criminal justice system and society to explain their criminality (Weare, 2013). The case studies of Tania Witika, Macsyna King and sex workers in New Zealand demonstrates how discrimination can impact upon women’s experience within the criminal justice system, as stereotypes determines which kinds of women are more likely to be arrested, found guilty, imprisoned or referred for psychiatric treatment (Carraine et al., 2012).
The Feminist theory is based around gender inequalities and the concept of an imbalance of power between men and women and within men themselves. This theory argues that male sexual offenders are like normal men, however they have been conditioned within society and culture that when their masculinity is questioned, this creates a reaction where males sexually assault females to boost their male status within society. The feminist theory highlights how women’s experiences are often based around the struggle of male domination or patriarchy (Moore, 2008, p. 5) in relation to sexual offences. This article links closely with the Feminist Theory as
Classical and contemporary theory helps to explain gendered crime patterns. The feminist school of criminology argue criminology and criminal theory is very masculine, all studies into criminal behaviour, have been developed from male statistics and tested on males. Very little research is conducted into female criminality, this may be because women who commit crime are more likely to be seen as evil or mentally ill rather than criminal, this is because women are labe...
The 1920’s was a time of social and political change. Food, entertainment, home appliances, and dancing, were roaring but my interest was focused on women’s roles. More women were becoming flappers, wearing shorter, more freeing dresses, having short hair ( History.com Staff ), but more specifically women were becoming more involved in crime. Murderess row was a group of 3 women, Katherine “Kitty” Malm, Belva Gaertner, and Beulah Annan, and a reporter Maurine Watkins. The three women all have something in common, murder and they also were the inspiration of a famous show, Chicago.
Feminist criminology is the study of crime in terms of gender for example why men commit more crime than women, why women do more petty crimes, like shop lifting, than violent crime, sexism in the court system, and female victimization. Feminist criminology contains many branches. Liberal, radical, Marxist, and socialist feminism are widely recognized, although other "strands" exist such as postmodernism and ecofeminism. Most feminist criminology involves critiques about how women offenders have been ignored, distorted, or stereotyped within traditional criminology, but there is no shortage of separate theories and modifications of existing theories.
Traditionally, there has been little research on or interest in the impact of female crime in modern society. In addition, juvenile crime rates are on the rise, which combine for a void of research or information on female juvenile offenders. In general, crime rates for women offenders have risen since the 1990's. Increasing numbers of young women are also offending at higher rates. In a 1996 U.S. Department of Justice Report, the number of arrests of young women had doubled between 1989 and 1993. Twenty percent of all juvenile arrests were committed by girls, an increase of 87 percent. However, according to The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, males are far more likely to admit to criminal involvement than are females. For example, 12 percent of males and 4 percent of females reported carrying a hidden weapon other than a pocketknife in the past year (Wilson, p.150). There are several theories for this rise in crime proposed by modern feminists, including that the introduction of women into traditional male roles prompted women to commit increasingly dangerous and violent crimes. However, this paper will rely on Meda Chesney-Lind's theories from The Female Offender.
Feminist Theory is an aspect of considering feminism as having been based on socio-phenomenon issues rather than biological or scientific. It appreciates gender inequality, analyzes the societal roles played by feminists in a bid to promote the interests, issues and rights of women in the society. It is also based on the assumption that women play subsidiary roles in the society. The whole idea of feminism has however experienced hurdles in the form of stereotyping by the wider society. This paper tries to examine some of the effects of stereotypes that feminism goes through, what other philosophers say and the way forward towards ending stereotyping.
Feminist criminology is basically a theory amongst feminist that show their concern with the victimization of women. This theory suggests that most female criminals commit crimes due to constant discrimination between men and women. The main goal many feminist have is to eliminate any barriers between men and women. Feminism can be broken up to four different branches. Although each branch is fighting the same cause their battles are different. First it's Liberal Feminist which are focus on the theory that the main problem with equality is sexism. They believe women do not get the opportunity to move up in life because men immediately subdue them due to their gender. Second it's Marxist feminist. This branch of feminism is solely focus on
The emergence and importance of the feminist theory also began to take shape during the late 1900s due to the increasing number of women entering into the job market in large leadership and powerful positions; no longer maintain role expectations. Modern day contexts to the ever-changing theory are seen through the addition of females to line units in the United States Army. Allowing some women to attend Ranger school. Furthermore, a major influence to the emergence of the feminist theory is the inequality women face within the criminal justice system and the stigmas that are attached to female
When discussing theories of crime, most turn to ideas of nature versus nurture. An important factor that is seemingly overlooked is that of previous victimisation, and how being a victim can correlate to an increased likelihood of offending in the future. Some victims of crimes vow to take their trauma and turn it into something positive and productive, while some may get stuck and find themselves in a vicious cycle of victimisation and perpetration. This phenomenon can commonly be seen in cases of violent crimes, where perpetration may be “habitual” or as a result of revenge-seeking attitudes. This essay will examine the relationship between victimisation and crime, citing violent crimes in particular.
Sexual orientation is the focal issue regarding the feminist theories of crime. These theories try to clarify the insufficiency of criminological theories with respect to focusing on women and how the speculations apply to clarifying female criminal conduct. One hypothesis incorporated into the feminist theories of crime is John Hagan’s power-control theory. The production of this theory comes from the women’s liberation movement. All the more critically, the impact that women’s expanded entrance into the workforce had on the gender gap in crime rates (Akers & Sellers, 2009). The power-control theory sets out to clarify the gender contrasts in delinquency focused around the strategic maneuver going on in the family structure, and the parental