What are the main theoretical ideas and issues for feminist criminology?
Men in society create the world from their own point of view which shows how power is dominant through them (Simpson ,1989). However, where do we see women’s views points? A criminologist Carol Smart was one of the first feminist criminologists to advance societal understandings of female offenders. This includes types of offenses committed by females, form of involvement in criminality and delinquency, the attitudes of the polices, probation officers and social officers towards delinquent girls and criminal women, the treatment of women in the court system and corrections itself and structure and purposes of criminal laws.
This is essay is going to talk about how feminist criminology has developed during the years and also discussing the main theoretical ideas and issues in relations to feminist’s criminology in society. The main theoretical ideas that relates to feminist criminology is liberal, radical and socialist and Marxist feminist criminology. I will also be looking at issues around these particular theories and how they affect women in general. Through these theories we will be able to understand feminist criminology much more clearly.
Three waves of feminism
When people think about prisons they automatically think about men in general. Women around the world represent between 2 and 10 percent of nations prison population. As the years go by female population has increased over higher rates to male populations yet women still continue to be marginalized in society. According to Simpson, feminism is best understood as both a world view and a social movement (Simpson, 1989). With feminist criminology, the key movements were mapped through three particular periods known as the waves of feminism. The first feminist wave happened in the early 19th 20th century .This wave focused on the legal issues when women demanded the rights to vote and also rights to property and advocacy for place within the political area. The second wave occurred in the 1960 to the 1980s. this wave looks at the movement in which includes equal pay , equal education and job opportunities . Feminists of this wave argued that to be fully liberated , women needed to have equal access to economic opportunities and sexual freedoms as well as civil liberties. For example , having free contraception and abortion on demand .this wave also concerned with the ending determination of women in cultural and political aspects. The third wave has been ongoing since the 1990s. it is a movement that embraces individualism as well as diversity of sexes.
Liberal feminism
Feminist research has expanded beyond its origin in women’s studies to influence the more traditionally bounded academic disciplines (Simpson, 1989). The first theoretical in feminist criminology is liberal feminism. Liberal feminism in relation criminology refers to an individual as the most important part of society. Liberal feminist is viewed as the question of rights is more relevant in the context of competitive views of an individual. In saying this, laws should be renewed so that women in society should have equal rights. An example to this is having the necessity to change legislation in order to provide equal opportunities in the area of paperwork like high roles in the government. Another example is to give women the opportunity to speak their opinions rather than treating them unequally. Burgess proctor confirms as she says that men’s social role is afforded more social status than women’s roles (Burgess-proctor, 2006). Allowing men and women to have equal rights can create new beginnings for our future generations.
Issues that are discussed in liberal feminism is that they are focused on are rights, dignity and freedoms of the women as a whole. This means that this angle is the need to value purpose and not to discriminate towards all people. For example, looking at equality in work place. If we have a good look into our workplace men are seen to hold the higher roles than women. Kelso says that men make better political leaders than women do (kelso et al, 2012). This shows how men view themselves physically and mentally stronger than women. A theory that was discussed amongst the liberal feminists is the emancipation theory. The emancipation theory is the idea that increase in the rate of female criminality was because of the changing in status of women in society. Also, it is due to the rise of women questioning their social roles. For example, looking at most female’s role in society in comparison to men. In society we notice that most of the high roles are conducted or ruled by men. This is seen as a social norm that men get all the hard work due to masculinity and women stick to being the house mum and nurture the children.
Radical feminism
Another theoretical idea in feminist criminology is radical feminist criminology. Radical feminist identifies patriarchy, male dominance as the root cause of women’s oppression (burgess-proctor, 2006). A radical approach id not focused on equal power but is focused on eliminating patriarchy by transforming the entire structure of society. It also involves a collective consciousness raising about the oppressions shared by all women. In saying this, all aspects of all women's lives both personal and political are touched shaped by patriarchal relations. According to Burgess-proctor, she says that the reason why women offends at a lower rate than men is because of their socialization (Burgess-Proctor, 2006). Because men are more socialized and aggressive they have more opportunities to engage into deviance. However, women are known to be more nurturing, passive and also stays home a lot shows why they have less opportunities to engage in deviance. At the same time all men shared at the same way in the benefits of that oppression. An issue for this theory is that poor women are at greater risk of violent victimization than other women not men. Reason that may detect these behaviors is not having equal rights as other men. this theory can be misleading at time with such a fast emphasis on patriarchy. Burgess-Proctor says that women experience discrimination because social relations and social interactions are shaped by male power and privilege (Burgess-Proctor, 2006)
Marxist/socialist feminism
Lastly, a theoretical idea in feminist criminology is the Marxist and socialist feminism. Marxist and socialist feminist criminology are both blended in the same framework that hinges on patriarchy and capitalist society. Burgess-proctor says that they are blended to conclude that women’s oppression results from concomitant class-based inequalities (Burgess-Proctor, 2006). Feminist criminology in a socialist perspective agree that in both public and private spheres women have been and continue to be exploited and oppressed. The Marxist feminist in relation to feminism criminology, is interested in the positions of women in society in terms pay and unpaid labor. As much as men do all the heavy-duty work in general but mothers work longer hours which tires them out.
According to stats in New Zealand men with that same roles as women get higher pays in society. The issue around this is that society does not take into consideration that females may not be physically stronger but the they are work that same job and the same hours but still get lower pay rate. The key category of employment for women is seeing to be that of domestic labor which is unpaid. For example, raising an unborn child is the most difficult part in life which mothers have to deal with and not a cent goes towards their name. they work very long hours and adding on the responsibilities at home is a lot but they still don’t get acknowledged. This situation is view as exploited. Even when women participate in paid workforce there tend paid less than men relative to their position. The argument here is that we need to fix gender inequality and then we need to do something in order to fundamentally transform social societies such as the capitalist issues and the way in which they are organized around exploitation of females and male working-class labor.
In relations to women in prisons, women’s make up 7 percent of prison population in New Zealand. For example, the population of women being incarcerated is two times less than men being incarcerated. There are many differences between women and men on crime. Women tend to engage in less violent crimes such as fraud which result in more lenient sentences whereas for men, they have more harmful crimes because they are more aggressive hence why they have harder punishments. Carlen says that when women break the law the do so in circumstances that are different to men (Carlen ,1990) . For example, women breaking the law isn’t a big thing because most of their crimes are not as serious as the crime men commit.
Women are viewed as an oppressed class and all women are said to be subjected to the oppressive structures of male domination. Looking at prison populations of women shows that, female prison population in New Zealand have been increasing and have been overcrowded (Eskridge, 1993).
Women’s prisons have similar facilities as men prisons but the only difference is that women’s prisons have mothers with baby’s units. There can be advantages and disadvantages to women in prisons. Disadvantages would be that mothers that are locked up in prisons can create distance between the child and mother. This will then lose the child’s sense of belonging. A child without a mother in their life and cause them to play up. This will then create more crimes in society. However, this is connected to gender roles. This is due to males having high roles which makes females less wanted. Then, they do things like drugs and theft to get what they want. An advantage is would be, having nursery units where mothers with new born can still see each other while serving a sentence of imprisonment. However, there can still be negative reasons to this. For example, having bad influence on the child and not being able to be free out in society.
Overall looking that these theories have showed how women are treated and viewed in society. When we look that the three waves and how it’s been developed during the years proves that there have been changes within those years till today. Yes, men hold power in this world but It won’t hurt to treat women equally. With liberal feminism being visible in society allows women to stand for rights in society’s. With radical feminism having that sense of worth for women that having the same roles as men requires the same amount of pay. With Marxist and socialist creating a template for our women to stand up for equality and that male dominance is not right. Also, with women in prison, putting a woman in prison is like putting her own family in prison. As the mother being at home all the time and being there for their kids can be traumatising for their kids. These main points have helped with what we see in feminist criminology. it has also allowed us to view certain areas in many ways which is why gender equality is important.