It's a Crime: Women and Justice

by Muraskin, Roslyn

• ISBN13: 9780130482006
• ISBN10: 0130482005
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

"It's a Crime: Women and Justice, Fourth Edition, "is an all-inclusive work on women and issues of justice. The most complete, up-to-date text available, it compiles over 50 essays that explore issues such as: the history of women's issues; women and the law; women and violence; women and health problems; gender and race, women and prison; women and criminal justice professions; women and terrorism; and girls and delinquency. Written by Rosalyn Muraskin and leading scholars in the field, this edition highlights over thirty new essays and presents a thought-provoking dialogue concerning the major tribulations women face in the criminal justice system.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Merry Morash
Preface	xii
About the Authors and Contributors
Acknowledgments	xxi
SECTION I HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN'S ISSUES	1	(50)
``Ain't I a Woman?''	3	(9)
Roslyn Muraskin
Taming Women and Nature: The Criminal Justice System and the Creation of Crime in Salem Village	12	(18)
Nanci Koser Wilson
``Mule-Headed Slave Women Refusing to Take Foolishness from Anybody'': A Prelude to Future Accommodation, Resistance, and Criminality	30	(21)
Laura T. Fishman
SECTION II WOMEN AND THE LAW	51	(46)
Postpartum Syndrome and the Legal System	53	(24)
Tara C. Proano-Raps
Cheryl L. Meyer
The Legal System and Sexual Harassment	77	(9)
Roslyn Muraskin
Abortion: Is It a Right to Privacy or Compulsory Childbearing?	86	(11)
Roslyn Muraskin
SECTION III WOMEN, DRUGS, AND AIDS	97	(76)
Revisiting ``Crack Mothers at 6''	99	(18)
Drew Humphries
Women, AIDS, and the Criminal Justice System	117	(12)
Joan Luxenburg
Thomas E. Guild
The Legal Response to Substance Abuse during Pregnancy	129	(23)
Inger Sagatun-Edwards
HIV Disease and Women Offenders	152	(21)
Arthur J. Lurigio
James A. Swartz
Ciuinal Jones
SECTION IV WOMEN IN PRISON	173	(132)
Women in Prison: Vengeful Equity	175	(21)
Barbara Bloom
Meda Chesney-Lind
Crime Control Policy and Inequality among Female Offenders: Racial Disparities in Treatment among Women on Probation	196	(13)
Zina T. MeGee
Spencer R. Baker
Three Strikes and It's Women Who Are Out: The Hidden Consequences for Women of Criminal Justice Policy Reforms	209	(11)
Mona J. E. Danner
Disparate Treatment in Correctional Facilities: Looking Back	220	(12)
Roslyn Muraskin
Doing Time in Alaska: Women, Culture, and Crime	232	(26)
Cindi Banks
Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault of Women in Prison	258	(15)
Zelma Weston Henriques
Evelyn Gilbert
Dying to Get Out: The Execution of Females in the Post-Furman Era of the Death Penalty in the United States	273	(16)
David E. Schulberg
Women on Death Row	289	(16)
Etta F. Morgan
SECTION V WOMEN: VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE	305	(106)
Arrest Policies for Domestic Violence: Their Implications for Battered Women	307	(23)
Susan L. Miller
Likelihood of an Arrest Decision for Domestic and Nondomestic Assault Calls: Do Police Underenforce the Law When Responding to Domestic Violence?	330	(19)
Lynette Feder
Victims of Domestic Stalking: A Comparison of Black and White Females	349	(14)
Janice Joseph
Forced Sexual Intercourse: Contemporary Views	363	(17)
Robert T. Sigler
Ida M. Johnson
Etta F. Morgan
Battered Women on Mandatory Arrest Laws: A Comparison across Three States	380	(14)
Alisa Smith
Immigration Context of Wife Abuse: A Case of Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States	394	(17)
Hoan N. Bui
SECTION VI WOMEN IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSIONS	411	(56)
Women on the Bench: Mavericks, Peacemakers, or Something Else? Research Questions, Issues, and Suggestions	413	(16)
Susan L. Miller
Michelle L. Meloy
Women in the Legal Profession: Does Bias Still Exist?	429	(12)
Jody Clay-Warner
Early Policing in the United States: ``Help Wanted-Women Need Not Apply''	441	(9)
Martin L. O'Connor
The Dislike of Female Offenders among Correctional Officers: The Need for Specialized Training	450	(17)
Christine E. Rasche
SECTION VII WOMEN AND CRIME	467	(48)
Women's Training for Organized Crime: Sex and Sexuality	469	(16)
Sue Mahan
Classifying Female Serial Killers: An Application of Prominent Typologies	485	(12)
Laura J. Moriarty
Kimberly L. Freiberger
Listening to Women's Voices: Considering Why Mothers Kill Their Children	497	(18)
Cheryl Meyer
Cindy E. Weisbart
SECTION VIII GIRLS AND DELINQUENCY	515	(74)
Developing Gender-Specific Services for Delinquency Prevention: Understanding Risk and Resiliency	517	(27)
Barbara Bloom
Barbara Owens
Elizabeth Piper Deschenes
Jill Rosenbaum
Gender Differences in Delinquency Career Types and the Transition to Adult Crime	544	(26)
Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Paul E. Tracy
Film Portrayals of Female Delinquents: Realistic or Stereotypical?	570	(19)
Laura L. Finley
Peter S. Finley
SECTION IX CONCLUSIONS	589	(6)
Roslyn Muraskin
Index	595

Excerpts

It's a Crime: Women and Justice(third edition) is probably the most comprehensive text with readings on the subject of women and the criminal justice system. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has" (Margaret Mead). Over these many generations, dramatic social and legal changes have been accomplished on behalf of women's equality. Women have made these changes happen. They have not been passive, but rather, have worked together to make changes, to create a better world where there are few constrictions. During the times of the American Revolution when America gained a new democracy, women had yet to gain the freedom they deserved as human beings. There have always been women who have worked throughout history for the betterment of society. At the Seneca Falls Conference in 1848, women gathered together to declare that "we hold these truths to be self evident that allmen and womenemphasis mine are created equal." In theDeclaration of Sentiments,Elizabeth Stanton pointed out that "the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world." It went into specifics: Married women were legally dead in the eyes of the law. Women were not allowed to vote. Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation. Married women had no property rights. Husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity. Divorce and child custody laws favored men. Women had to pay property taxes although they had no representation in the levying of these taxes. Most occupations were closed to women and when women did gain entry, they were paid only a fraction of what men earned. Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law. Women had no means to gain an education since no college or university would accept women students. With only a few exceptions, women were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the church. Women were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect, and were made totally dependent on men. These were strong words. This was the status quo for women in the United States in 1848. In the words of Elizabeth Stanton: "Now in view of this entire disenfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation--in view of the unjust laws . . . and because women feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States." That was then. The movement produced few results. Women did not receive the right to vote until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution early in the twentieth century. In the words of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "I think about how much we owe to the women who went before us--legions of women, some known but many unknown. I applaud the bravery and resilience of those who helped all of us--you and me--to be here today" (1998). The potential for progress in the realm of women's issues and the criminal justice system is possible because of the continuous battles that women have continued to fight in striving for something calledequalityorparity of treatment.The history of women indicates that gender should not be a factor in determining the legal rights of women and men, but it has been. Dating back to 1776, when this country was being formed and the laws were being written by men, it was Abigail Adams, in a letter to he