Feminist Criminology recent issues

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.

Anti-Feminist Backlash and Gender-Relevant Crime Initiatives in the Global Context

Laidler, K. J., Mann, R. M. — 2008-04-08

Are Rape Crisis Centers Feminist Organizations?

Maier, S. L. — 2008-04-08

Although rape crisis centers began as feminist organizations, research exploring centers' current feminist identity is limited. Data from interviews with 63 staff, volunteers, interns, and directors affiliated with six rape crisis centers and programs located in four East Coast states are used to examine how they view feminism and whether they believe their rape crisis centers maintain a feminist ideology. Although most directors identified their organization as a feminist one, they also indicated that the feminist identity of rape crisis centers has changed over time as organizations increasingly collaborated with mainstream organizations and became less politically active. Because of the possible negative connotation of the word "feminism," some directors and advocates spoke of their reluctance to advertise as a feminist organization for fear of alienating victims, potential volunteers, and/or funders.

Falling Between the Cracks of Retributive and Restorative Justice: The Victimization and Punishment of Aboriginal Women

Balfour, G. — 2008-04-08

In 1996, the Canadian government introduced progressive sentencing law reforms that called for special consideration of the conditions in Aboriginal communities as legacies of colonialism and to limit the use of incarceration. At the same time, feminist-inspired law reforms sought compulsory criminalization and vigorous prosecution of gendered violence. Since that time, there has been a doubling of the rate of imprisonment of Aboriginal women, and gendered violence is three and a half times greater in Aboriginal communities. Using the sentencing decisions of two cases involving Aboriginal women convicted of manslaughter, the author explores the practice of law as a site of backlash and an appropriation of feminist-inspired antiviolence strategies. The author draws on feminist and critical race studies of restorative justice in the context of gendered violence to examine why the victimization–criminalization continuum has not been fully recognized in the practice of restorative justice.

Patriarchy Reasserted: Fathers' Rights and Anti-VAWA Activism

Dragiewicz, M. — 2008-04-08

The backlash against gender-sensitive responses to women's victimization, offending, and imprisonment is inseparable from contemporary reaction against feminism and other progressive movements. The backlash against the American Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides a prime example of this resistance. Despite widespread support for VAWA and other policies designed to address violence against women, some constituencies object to their existence. The author investigates fathers' rights rhetoric on VAWA as an example of antifeminist backlash.

The Violence Against Women Campaigns in Latin America: New Feminist Alliances

Cole, S., Phillips, L. — 2008-04-08

This article urges caution in reading the backlash against gender-sensitive policies as a global phenomenon. Drawing inspiration from Latin America, the authors consider how international agreements for nation-states to adopt measures to prevent violence against women have been taken up in proactive ways through the collaboration of international organizations, national governments, and expanding and evolving women's movements. The push for the development of democratic citizenship in Latin America has opened up possibilities for bringing awareness of violence against women to a public that is in the process of engaging with a range of social justice issues and collaborating on multiple fronts. The authors argue that strategic coalitions across difference have been central to the success of the efforts to combat violence against women. They show how new feminist alliances have not only helped denormalize and deprivatize gender violence but revitalized feminist issues as part of a broad front to build progressive societies.

Editorial

Eigenberg, H. M. — 2007-12-17

Women and Crime in Context: Examining the Linkages Between Patriarchy and Female Offending Across Space

Parker, K. F., Reckdenwald, A. — 2007-12-17

This study explores the relationship between patriarchy indicators and female offending in the context of urban and rural areas. Few studies have examined how patriarchy and other structural predictors influence within-gender differences in female crime at the macro level. Using 2000 data, the authors offer multiple measures that tap public and private levels of patriarchy when examining types of female arrests across U.S. cities and small towns. The authors find that public patriarchy influences female crime rates when controlling for private patriarchy and other structural conditions. This study highlights the importance of examining within-gender differences in offending rates at the macro level, while capturing the different ways that patriarchy manifests itself in society.

Gender Effects Along the Juvenile Justice System: Evidence of a Gendered Organization

Carr, N. T., Hudson, K., Hanks, R. S., Hunt, A. N. — 2007-12-17

This article provides an example of the unequal outcomes generated by humans interacting in a gendered organizational context. Acker's concept of gendered institutions is applied to a juvenile justice program. Using data from court records and program files, official outcomes for boys and girls are compared. Findings indicate that variation in the level of program implementation produced an increase, rather than a decrease, in the odds of female youth being charged with a new offense. They also indicate that girls who committed a new offense were much more likely than comparable boys to be returned to residential treatment, even when controlling for the severity of their reoffense. Taken together, these findings illustrate the reproduction of gender inequality consistent with operations of a gendered organization.

Men's Rights and Feminist Advocacy in Canadian Domestic Violence Policy Arenas: Contexts, Dynamics, and Outcomes of Antifeminist Backlash

Mann, R. M. — 2007-12-17

This article examines government and advocacy group texts on three recent Canadian domestic violence policy moments. Drawing on governance, feminist poststructuralist, and social movement perspectives, it examines men's rights advocates' and feminists' discursive actions and their influence on officials. The research aim is to explore the provisional, intrinsically incomplete, and indeed questionable success, to date, of Canadian anti-domestic violence advocates' strategies and tactics of resisting men's advocates' efforts to delegitimize gendered constructions of domestic violence. At the level of political action, the article contributes to efforts by feminists internationally to safeguard protections and supports for abused women and children in a political context marked by the increasingly prominent influence of men's rights and associated antiprogressive backlash.

Editorial

Eigenberg, H. — 2007-09-25

Scene Composition and Justice for Women: An Analysis of the Portrayal of Detective Tennison in the British Television Program Prime Suspect

Cavender, G., Jurik, N. — 2007-09-25

This article examines the ways in which the visuals of the British made-for-television series Prime Suspect portray the main character, Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS) Jane Tennison, and her struggles to produce justice in the male-dominated field of policing. The authors demonstrate how the film's visuals convey sensitivity to the socially marginalized by placing Tennison's body in the locations of the victims whose deaths she investigates. The authors also argue that the often-graphic Prime Suspect visuals offer the possibility of sensitizing viewers to the plight of marginalized populations and the victimization of women. Tennison's connection to the victims and relentless pursuit of justice despite official discouragement provide an example of a progressive moral fiction; the program exposes the structural conditions that promote violence and victimization and offers encouragement to battle these obstacles.

Looking Beyond Caged Heat: Media Images of Women in Prison

Cecil, D. K. — 2007-09-25

Female prisoners are an invisible correctional population; thus, media images are critical in shaping people's understanding of this social issue. Although research has examined how Hollywood depicts female prisoners, it has not delved into images found in reality-based programs. This study examined documentaries, televised news magazines, and talk shows to determine how these programs portray this incarcerated population and to identify how the issue is framed. Findings indicate that although some of the critical issues facing incarcerated women are presented, these programs still highlight factors that excite viewers, including violence and sex, thereby creating a sensationalized and damaging image of women behind bars.

An Exploratory Analysis of Victim Precipitation Among Men and Women Arrested for Intimate Partner Violence

Muftic, L. R., Bouffard, L. A., Bouffard, J. A. — 2007-09-25

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex social problem that has produced a wide variety of explanations. However, few studies have explored what, if any, role victim precipitation plays in IPV. Victim precipitation is generally defined as behavior by the victim that initiates the subsequent behavior of the victimizer; however, studies using this concept have often been accused of subtle and overt victim blaming. Distinguishing victim precipitation from victim blaming, this study explores the utility of victim precipitation in understanding contextual differences in men's and women's use of violence in intimate relationships and police use of dual arrest in IPV incidents. Results suggest that victim precipitation plays an important role in understanding incidents of IPV, especially in cases involving dual arrest.

Stalking in the Context of Intimate Partner Abuse: In the Victims' Words

Melton, H. C. — 2007-09-25

This article explores stalking in the context of intimate partner abuse (IPA) using qualitative data. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 women who experienced stalking and violence from male partners. Findings include an exploration of the relationships between the motivations for stalking, the behaviors utilized, and the impacts of the behaviors for the victims.