Gender-Based Theories

Gender-Based Theories

     Gender theories are a group of perspectives that specifically target gender as an important variable in understanding crime. These perspectives are meant to sensitize scholars to the “invisibility” of women in the field. The author suggests that this could be largely based the view of a patriarchal society which empowers males in all fundamentally social interactions. This view essentially states that females are subordinate and males are dominant. Feminist criminology is in part focused on critiquing these traditionally male-based views on understanding crime.

     A paternalistic society, also referred to as paternalism, is organized around independence for males with dependency for females. Paternalism also suggest that women need to be protected, for their own good, since the patriarchal power relations in our social system explain why women are more likely to be victimized by friends or intimates within her home, rather than by a stranger or away from home. This patriarchal power is one of the central elements to the way crime is defined and studied. While the idea of protecting women does not sound to be disadvantageous to women, in the case of Turner v. Safley it is evident that the “protection” given to the females is discriminatory. The U.S. Supreme Court criticized the Missouri Department of Corrections for routinely approving the male inmate’s marriage requests, but only allowing female inmate marriage requests when the situation involves the presence of a child born out of wedlock. In this case, the paternalistic policies were unconstitutional in addition to being discriminatory against females. Paternalism has been argued to be the main reason most female juveniles are detained more frequently than their male counterparts.

     There are many goals associated with gender theories, and one is to provide feminist perspectives to criminological knowledge. Most of the knowledge collected is of “men’s perspective” which can be limited when discussing topics such as personal conflict, crime, and crime prevention. 

Feminism

     As far as criminology is concerned, there is no single feminist criminological theory. There are five different specialized perspectives that are discussed in this post: liberal feminism, radical feminism, Marxist feminism, socialist feminism, and postmodern feminism. The debate continues on whether to incorporate feminist thought into previous criminological theories or to start fresh and theorize without any input from previous theories.

• Liberal Feminism

     This is considered the first feminist perspective on gender discrimination and criminology. The basis for the idea was that females deserved equal treatment in regards to the criminal justice system. Due to this idea and belief, gender-based laws and practices were questioned and examined. These liberal feminists denounced the idea of public/private division, in which females were to only have power in the domestic or private world. The presumption was that as females became integrated into the work force, justice would be evenly dispensed, and there would be a decrease in discrimination.

• Radical Feminism

 The rise of radical feminist criminology is a product of the emergent radical criminology and a critique of liberal feminism. This feminism deals with the crime fostered through the creation of the patriarchal and sexist society within the capitalist and economic society. Sexism defines the value of women in terms of family, which overall give men control. This control is used to develop legal concepts that define women as property and de-emphasize assault on women.

• Marxist Feminism

     Early Marxist theorists never addressed female criminality, and because of this Marxist feminists view the capitalist system as exploiting subordinate groups. These groups would often be based on race or gender. Theorists focused on the division of labor and how females were given lower value and status labor positions. Polly Radosh has described the sexual division of labor as “the epitome of economic inequality.” Again, this marginalization of women’s worth is heavily dependent on males. This feminist theory explains why women are more frequently arrested for property crimes as well as sexually oriented offenses.

• Socialist Feminism

     The oppression of women, under socialist feminism, is identified as a symptom of the patriarchal capitalist system. Females are exploited by this system for their labor and sexuality. Socialist feminism is a uniting of both the radical and Marxist principles. The female crimes discussed are usually limited to property crimes. This type of feminism explains that females are more likely to commit vice crimes and property crimes as opposed to men who commit violent street crime. 

• Postmodern Feminism

     As the name suggests, postmodern feminism is the most recent perspective that shares with non-feminist views when it comes to gender within the criminological framework. To postmodern feminists, the more pressing issue is of gender, not crime. The nature of gender in conjunction with crime shifts when explored along with ethnicity, social status, and age. Prior life experiences are more factors that could alter the motivations of women’s behavior. When these experiences are negative such as racism, molestation, or rape, it adds to the complexity of women’s lives and the meanings of illegality.