Feminist Criminology current issue

Editorial

Eigenberg, H. — 2008-07-28

Bosnian Women and Intimate Partner Violence: Differences in Experiences and Attitudes for Refugee and Nonrefugee Women

Muftic, L. R., Bouffard, L. A. — 2008-07-28

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is increasingly viewed as a global social problem. Research examining this issue, however, generally has been limited to North America, leaving an extensive gap in the literature. This study aims to narrow this gap by examining IPV among Bosnian women. Specifically, an exploratory analysis will be structured around two important and interrelated areas: prevelance of IPV and attitudes related to IPV. Approximately 70 Bosnian women completed paper-and-pencil surveys that measured experiences and attitudes associated with IPV. Bivariate analyses were used to compare the responses of Bosnian nationals residing in Bosnia-Herzegovina (n = 49) against the responses of Bosnian refugees residing in the United States (n = 21). Results and suggestions for future research are presented.

Immigration, Masculinity, and Intimate Partner Violence From the Standpoint of Domestic Violence Service Providers and Vietnamese-Origin Women

Bui, H., Morash, M. — 2008-07-28

Data from in-depth interviews with Vietnamese immigrant women residing in the United States and both interviews and a focus group with service providers for abused Vietnamese immigrants suggest a complex relationship among job market context, changing norms about appropriate feminine behavior, immigration adaptation, masculinity, and men's violence against intimate partners. During immigration resettlement, men's economic status can worsen, there can be gender role reversals, and men can feel a profound loss of power and social status. Aggression is one way to overcome the perceived loss of one form of masculine identity through a symbolic reassertion of power and privilege as it is constructed in Vietnamese culture and reinforced by aspects of U.S. culture. These dynamics suggest that interventions into domestic violence require not only increasing economic opportunities for immigrants to reduce adaptation stress but also changing gender relations that do not reproduce the belief in male supremacy and men's control of women as part of masculine identity.

Controlled Burn: The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern Policing

Kurtz, D. L. — 2008-07-28

Despite the interest in the interplay between subcultural attitudes, organizational structure, and high stress events, most research on police stress fails to address a fundamental concern—that of gender. In fact, the majority of research addressing officer stress fails to mention gender or concentrates on gender as a simple control variable. Data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997-1999 study were analyzed to examine how gender affects stress and burnout in law enforcement. Findings indicate that stress and burnout by officers is embedded in the gender structure and process of policing and not simply a response to high stress events.