Feminist Criminology and Deviance

Critical Theories of Deviance

• Focuses on how society addresses issues such as homelessness and sexual victimization.
• Examines societal structures and the power dynamics influence the creation and maintenance of deviance, rather than focusing on individual flaws.
• Feminist theory and Critical race theory are key components.

Feminist Criminology Development

• History of feminist thought
• Critique of criminology and deviance

Feminist Criminology

• Challenges the male-centered perspective in criminology.
• Prior to feminist thought, criminological theories treated women in two ways.
• Women were subsumed under the heading of “men,” assuming general theories could explain female deviance.
• Women were viewed in a sexist manner, as "different" or "pathological," linking their deviance to this pathology.

Feminist Theory, Homelessness, and Sexual Assault

• Focuses on women's social experiences.
• Aids understanding of sexual assault and homeless women.

Feminist Criminology Focus

• Concentrates on women's experiences, including domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse of teenagers, and economic inequality.
• Helps understand the sexual assault of homeless women by examining how their societal position influences their likelihood of homelessness.
• Victimization of women in patriarchal societies may be considered normal, leading to a lack of support for victims.

Teenage Runaways

• Research shows teenage girls who run away are often escaping abusive family environments.
• Running away is frequently a survival strategy, but public policies criminalize it.
• Policies should focus on addressing oppressive social structures that lead to girls running away, not punish them, providing resources like safe housing, education, and counseling.

Development of Critical Race Theory

• Critical race theory has two-fold goals
• Challenges white supremacy.

Critical Race Theory Goals

• Understands how a regime of white supremacy and the subordination of people of color have been created and maintained in America.
• Understands the bond between law and racial power and change it.

White Supremacy

• Challenges the idea of White supremacy, requiring a focus on the experiences of people of color within the legal system to understand law and racial exclusion, instead of viewing the White experience as the normative standard.

Critical Race Theory Development

• Law is biased.
• Racism is woven into American life.
• Racial domination is normative.

Critical Race Theory Attributes

• Law is not “neutral” but used to subordinate people of color.
• Racism is ingrained in the social structure and institutions of American life.
• Racial domination is central to legal and social decisions, accepted legally and morally.
• "White" experience is seen as the norm, and differing experiences are viewed as deviant or harmful.

Critical Race Theory and the #MeToo Movement

• Considers discourse of the suitable victim and Captures individual stories

#MeToo Movement

• Critical race theory can help to see whose story about sexual assault is likely to be taken more seriously.
• The #MeToo movement highlights that White women face sexual harassment and assault, but they are often taken more seriously as victims than women of color or those who don't fit society's gendered expectations.

Critical Race Theory Analysis

• Analyzes the discourse around who is a suitable victim and whose story gets preferenced.
• Emphasizes capturing diverse stories, focusing on the experiences of overlooked individuals for a complete understanding of societal issues.