Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice (Level 5)

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: to be confirmed
• Assessment: a 700-word critical article review (30%) and 1500-word essay (70%)

In this module we introduce you to key theories, debates and policy that explore the relationship between gender, criminal behaviour and criminal justice. We provide a critical overview of feminist criminological theory and explore its contribution to, and its challenge of, mainstream criminology. We also seek to emphasise the gendered construction of society, crime and criminal justice and, in so doing, explore key themes related to offending, victimisation, punishment and imprisonment.

Indicative syllabus

• Men and crime: can masculinity explain violent behaviour and crime?
• Women and crime: why do women commit fewer crimes than men?
• Prostitution/sex work: employment, crime or oppression?
• The victimisation of different groups: violence against women and the contexts in which women become victims, survivors and offenders; the victimisation of LGBTQ communities and identities and the concept of hate crime; transnational perspectives to victimisation (e.g. rape, domestic abuse, migration and human trafficking)
• Gender-responsive initiatives in sentencing and imprisonment: should women be treated differently from men in the criminal justice system (as victims, offenders and criminal justice staff)?
• Engendering lived experiences of punishment: differential needs, diverse survival strategies and resistance attitudes based on gender and sexuality
• New directions in policy and alternative solutions: international and comparative perspectives