Feminist Criminology. Feminist Theories. Research Paper

Feminist Criminology
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Introduction
Feminist Criminology is the study of criminology that began in late 1960. The study was meant to address the neglected women's issues as far as criminology is concerned. Before the year 1960, the field of criminology was dominated by men. For that reason, the female gender was discriminated because there was a gap in understanding the key differences between male and female punishments, victimization, types of crimes and many others. After studies, the female criminologists would target the female gender as they focused on bringing a female way of understanding criminality and appropriate ways of responding to crime. It is important to ensure that women get a fair judgment just like their male counterparts because it promotes peace and harmony in the society.
Feminist Theories
Feminist theories refer to the extension of feminism into a fictional, theoretical or even the philosophical discourse. The first feminism theory maintains that gender, referring to the behaviors of both genders in the society must be respected. The femininity and masculinity of a person are said to be the central organizing order of their social life, and that includes all the processes in the criminal justice. The second feminism theory states that women have been excluded from the study of criminology because of patriarchal sexism. The patriarchal sexism is something that favors men and masculinity over women and femininity.
One vital principle of the feminist theory is that by including all the female experiences and perspectives in the research study. The theories do not treat women and men as equal groups, and they recognize that gender privileges vary from one community to the other. Additionally, the feminist theories are not only able to explain the whole process of the criminal justice system but are also able to combine thesis with practice and with the aim of developing more just and equitable solutions to the problem of crime. Feminist theories have been advising women to change their traditional roles and engage themselves in the labor market.
The idea of deeming women as reproduction tools with the aim of producing labor should be done away with. According to the feminists, some institutions in the society play a crucial role in frustrating the efforts of women as they focus on freeing themselves from the existing social and physical oppression. The laws that were established by men in the past needed reforms to ensure that they cater for the physical needs of the woman in the society. Women are capable of doing what the men can do and even better if given a friendly environment to execute their duties. It is something that needs the support of every member of the society.
Female Offenders
It is undeniably true to say that the number of women involved in crime is much lower than the number of men involved in the same activities. However, today, unlike the way it was before things are taking a different turn with women becoming more liberated and are taking control of work in several fields (Renzetti, 2013). The women have a higher chance of involving themselves in crimes that were formerly associated with men. The desire to achieve more and the lack of supervision from men further intensify the need to commit a crime by the women. Most of the women found in crime are single mothers and pregnant women.
The women are in most cases are involved in the theft of small items such as handbags, shoplifting, bad checks and a few more. Women found guilty of such offenses are given lesser punishments. This is because the court considers the burden of having to take care of the children once their parents go to jail. Female offenders are less dangerous, and for that reason, they should get a different treatment from the men. Poverty and mental illnesses are two things that lead women into crime (Wattanaporn &Holtfreter, 2014). With the number of female offenders, increasing each day, it tells the government that is not giving them the support that they deserve to live better lives.
Modern Feminism
The first wave of feminism took place in the 19th century and proceeded to the 20th century. The activities that were taking place in the UK and US had a common goal of fighting for the rights of women in the society. Within the same period, other radical feminists were struggl...