Women, Crime, Justice

Module 2 of our class focuses on various sociological and feminist theories that have traditionally been applied to the study of crime and justice, and how applicable these are or are not to women’s experiences. For this discussion, please critique the chapter, responding to the following questions in a paragraph or more each. Please paraphrase your responses based on your understanding.

1. Identify one of the core victim’s rights as they are outlined on page 22 of your textbook and explain how victim blaming can intentionally or unintentionally violate these rights.

2. Pick one of the theories discussed in this module, either from your textbook or from the PowerPoint. Use this theory to explain a crime of your choice. Include at least one sentence that describes in detail the limit(s) of the theory in explaining your chosen crime (i.e. doesn’t account for racial factors, etc.).

ANSWER

Women, Crime and Justice

The victims of crime act enacted in 1984 authorises that victims should be compensated for the crimes committed against them (Cassel, 2017).  One of the core victims’ rights is to be protected from intimidation and harassment.  Victim blaming is an act that occurs to victims of violent crime where they are held responsible for what happened to them in part or whole for what happened to them.  For example, a victim of rape can be blamed for being too cheap, wearing indecent clothing, or going out on a date with a stranger.  Victim blaming usually ends up in people harassing and intimidating the victim to the extent of refusing to seek justice (Cassel, 2017).  Victim blaming has led many women who have been previously raped to shy away from seeking justice.  Victim blaming violates the rights of victims of violent crimes to be protected from any form of intimidation or harassment.

John Hogan’s power-control theory explains the differences between the crime rates between men and women.  The white-collar crime involves corporate crimes; men are more likely to be involved in white-collar crime than women.  According to the theory, men are more likely to commit crimes because they are given more freedom in the family setting (Burke, 2018).  The girls are more regulated hence have more self-control in terms of committing crimes.  The power control theory is an integration of the Marxist theory and feminist theory of crime.  The theory suggests that men are more likely to commit crimes due to the patriarchal setting where the man is the provider.  However, the theory is flawed and has limitations as it does not explain the impact of social positions on delinquency.  it also does not explain how different families affect the behaviours of children

References

Burke, R. H. (2018).  An introduction to criminological theory.  Routledge.

Cassell, P. G. (2017).  Crime victims’ rights.  Academy for Justice: A Report on Scholarship and Criminal Justice Reform, Forthcoming, University of Utah College of Law Research Paper, (224).