Criminology A Social And Political Movement - 3263 Words

Feminist criminology is a social and political movement. It is a theoretical approach which did not rise up until the 19th century and continues to develop within modern criminology. During the 18th century Marxism and functionalism was first introduced within criminology which was the most dominant perspective and a positivist approach to crime. Throughout the 18th century criminological thought was gender biased as most theorists were males studying male crime, therefore creating masculinity criminology. Criminology focused on male crime causing female crime to be predominantly ignored within the history of criminology. There are many types of theories of male crime such as, Marxism, functionalism, labelling theory and sub cultural†¦show more content†¦Current ideologies were being challenged and social movements transpired which included the civil rights movement and the women’s liberation movement. The Feminist perspective and its effects on society therefore infl uenced criminologists to become concerned with the ignorance of women within criminological theory. They believed in gender equality and that crime could not be explained properly if women were neglected within the theories of crime. This movement gave feminism a voice, which brought more attention to female criminality within the criminal justice system (Miller, 2009). The feminist perspective later developed and contributed to criminology in order to give an understanding of gender and crime and to produce equality and social justice for women. Feminist criminology demonstrates how gender matters, not only in terms of why an individual’s path leads to crime but also in terms of how the criminal justice system manages the offender. Feminist criminologists suggest that in order to understand crime it is important to understand that gender shapes the experiences of men and women within the criminal justice system. Due to criminology being patriarchal this has caused a gender ratio problem. The criminal justice system pays very little attention to women as offenders and victims of crime (Flavin, 2001). According to the Ministry of Justice (2012) it is apparent that there is a substantial