NCJ Number
145921
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 31-41
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper analyzes the legalistic approach to law enforcement from the masculine perspective of analysis and rationalization and the feminine perspective of nurturing and caring.
Abstract
Law enforcement is currently governed primarily by the masculine approach, which contributes to several crime- control problems. Law enforcement in the 1990's is still predominantly governed by a law-and-order mentality. Based in the analytic, masculine approach, police attempt to right wrongs, dispense justice, and eliminate crime by arresting lawbreakers for the purpose of punishing their behavior. History shows, however, that human behavior cannot be modified by institutions that operate under simplified dichotomies of right and wrong. Behavior is more likely to change under regimes that understand the deepest needs of individuals and the causes of their injurious behaviors, coupled with effective therapeutic programs. Law enforcement could benefit from the feminine approach, which emphasizes the caring, concerned approach to the management of lawbreakers. This is not to say that the use of measures to control criminal behavior and protect citizens from it should be abandoned. Rather, police should combine the use of restraining measures with strategies that facilitate positive behavioral change. 16 references