4. Feminist Criminology

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About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about the 'feminist turn' in criminology, focusing in particular on: (i) the overwhelming androcentricity of criminology prior to the 1970s, and the attempts by female criminologists to take a more holistic approach – i.e. one that included women and women's experiences; (ii) the shift in focus from the perpetrators of crime to its victims, and to the fear of crime, both of which had been largely ignored in criminological studies focusing on men; (iii) the link between victimization and the commission of crime; (iv) the work of Kathleen Daly and the idea of men's and women's 'pathways' into crime; and (v) the extent to which women's 'pathways' into crime are a result of the patriarchal society in which they find themselves.

Course

In this course, Dr Karen Evans (University of Liverpool) explores several topics related to gender and crime. In the first lecture, we think about the differences between men and women as perpetrators of crime. To what extent, in other words, is there a difference between the kinds of crimes committed by men and the kinds of crimes committed by women? In the second lecture, we think about the differences between men and women as victims of crime. In the third lecture, we explore some theories of female offending. Next, we look at the topic of feminist criminology. In the fifth lecture, we consider how some of the more recent, feminist theories of criminology have enhanced our understanding of male criminality. In the sixth and final lecture, we think about the role played by gender in the criminal justice system in England and Wales, and consider whether the criminal justice system would be better served by pursuing substantive rather than formal equality.

Lecturer

Dr Karen Evans is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Liverpool. Her work has focused, although not exclusively, on communities in excluded neighbourhoods and their responses to marginalisation and deprivation. From the early 1990s this focus on the urban experience took Karen into research which was more criminological in nature as the fear of crime and victimisation increased in many neighbourhoods.