Feminist theory has rapidly developed within ...

Feminist theory has rapidly developed within criminological discourse and has undoubtedly added to the depth and range of the discipline. This paper attempts to interrogate the evolution of feminist theory in criminology to ascertain whether its evolution has resulted in many differing theories or perspectives or one single paradigm. The paper will draw on contemporary literature within the discourse in order to empirically ground its arguments.
The introduction of women to the discipline of criminology was first done through a positivist gaze, which expounded the view that female crimes were a result of biological imperfections and psychological imbalance. Carlen (1992) argues that women were placed in the existing deterministic theoretical models which only sexualized their offences and did not allow for the examination of issues relevant to the female experience from the female perspective. Harding (1987) states that there was a subsequently a heightened movement for the development of sociological theories within criminology, to reflect gender issues and not just modify existing theoretical frameworks to “add women” as this would only perpetuate the marginalization of women’s issues within the discipline. Consequently, feminists argued that new frameworks of analysis needed to be developed, as well as new methods and strategies of enquiries that do not attempt to subjectify female issues or voice within a broadly male dominated discipline.
Many argue that feminist theory has failed within criminological scholarship because it has not achieved a consensus framework. There is the persistent argument that there is a plurality of frameworks, resulting in feminist criminologies and not a single movement (Walklate: 1995; Gelsthorpe and Morris: 1988). However, criminology is a fluid and multi-dimensional discipline, as are issues pertaining to gender relations. Like many other disciplines with varying investigative lenses, feminist theory has expanded to address the various contextual issues of the female experience. For example, some feminist criminological theorists sought to amplify the distinctive personality differences between men and women and how those can contribute to crime. Some theorists challenged the view that women have inherently different criminological triggers to men, and they suggested that instead, women’s penchant for criminality was being suppressed by the paternalistic expectations and environments. Finally, some theorists argued for intersectional approaches which mediated the issue of crime with variables such as class and race (Tierney: 2006). The strength and sustainability of feminist criminology is that it is multifaceted and generates debates on multiple planes. Critically, feminism has served to situate gender as a social construction within criminology which demands multifaceted and dynamic approaches.
In elucidating the arguments on whether there is one or multiple feminist ...