The Invisible Woman

by Belknap, Joanne

• ISBN13: 9780534158705
• ISBN10: 0534158706
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-08-01
• Publisher: Wadsworth Pub Co

Summary

In The Invisible Woman, author Joanne Belknap offers the definitive study of the disadvantages women in today's society face as offenders, victims, and workers in our criminal justice system. This book reflects the experiences of women in society in general and in the crime-processing system specifically, and offers precise explanations of feminist views and criminological theory. Belknap's exploration of women's visibility in our criminal justice system ranges from the women professionals working within the system to the women and girls caught up in the system as victims and offenders. From both a political as well as historical perspective, Belknap identifies the changes that have and have not happened for women. Moreover, she explores how gender and gender differences intertwine with race, racism, and class distinctions to reflect the unique experiences among women within a criminal "injustice" system. Throughout The Invisible Woman, Belknap infuses discussions with references to relevant research studies and current, publicly debated, cases to provide the most illuminating, comprehensive account available on women and crime.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Emergence of Gender in Criminology	p. 3
Female Offending
Critiquing Criminological Theories	p. 21
The Frequency and Nature of Female Offending	p. 45
Processing Female Offenders	p. 64
Punishing and Treating Female Offenders	p. 91
Female Victims of Male Violence
The Image of the Female Victim	p. 123
Sexual Victimization	p. 139
Battered Women	p. 169
Women Workers
Resistance to Change	p. 207
On the Job	p. 231
Conclusions
Effecting Change	p. 259
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