NCJ Number
102726
Date Published
1986
Length
219 pages
Annotation
Arguing from a socialist feminist perspective, the author demonstrates how an analysis of capitalism as both an economic system and a patriarchy can be used to explain the nature and causes of crime.
Abstract
The book critiques the failure of Marxist criminology to analyze gender relations and the origin of female oppression accurately and to explain how these factors contribute to crime. It outlines theories for a socialist feminist criminology that try to understand crime by considering relations of reproduction as well as production. Using this theoretical framework, the author examines violent street crime, corporate crime, and crimes typically committed by women such as larceny/theft, fraud, and prostitution. An analysis of rape focuses on why it occurs and how the criminal justice system effectively keeps it largely concealed from public view. Using the Reagan administration as a case study, the final chapter demonstrates the inadequacies of the current conservative approach to crime control. An alternative policy is proposed that involves full employment, workplace democracy, and democratizing the family. Tables, over 350 references, and index.