Feminist Criminology
Definition
A body of theory and research that critiques the androcentric bias of mainstream criminology, making visible the gendered dimensions of both offending and victimisation. Associated with scholars including Carol Smart, Frances Heidensohn, and Kathleen Daly.
- Focus
- Gendered dimensions of offending and victimisation
- Critiques
- Androcentric bias in mainstream criminology
- Key scholars
- Carol Smart, Frances Heidensohn, Kathleen Daly
Common questions
What specifically did feminist criminology argue mainstream theory was getting wrong before it emerged?+
It argued that classical and mainstream criminological theories were built almost entirely from studying male offenders and applied to women without adjustment, ignoring how factors like domestic abuse, economic dependency and gendered social control shape women's pathways into offending and victimisation differently.
How has feminist criminology influenced practical areas like sentencing or victim services rather than staying purely theoretical?+
It has informed policy areas such as recognizing coercive control and domestic violence as distinct offence categories, gender-responsive sentencing considerations, and victim-service models that account for how trauma from gendered victimisation differs from generic victim experience.
Related terms
- Broken Windows Theory
- The proposition by Wilson and Kelling (1982) that visible signs of physical and social disorder invite further disorder and serious crime by...
- Collective Efficacy
- A concept developed by Robert Sampson referring to the combination of social cohesion among neighbours and their shared willingness to intervene in...
- Conflict Criminology
- A family of theories holding that criminal law and its enforcement reflect the interests of powerful social groups rather than universal moral...
- Left Realism
- A criminological perspective developed by Jock Young, Roger Matthews, and others in the 1980s, arguing that critical criminology had neglected the real...
- Social Disorganisation
- The condition of a neighbourhood in which social institutions have weakened to the point where they can no longer effectively regulate behaviour...