Feminist and Critical Theories of Deviance and Criminality Notes (edited)

Feminist and Critical Theories of Deviance and Criminality

Critical (Race) Theories

• critical theories challenge mainstream explanations of deviance by looking at power, inequality, and social structures

• Focuses on how law, legal orders, and institutions maintain white privilege and supremacy.

• Emphasizes the exercise and experience of power.

• Assumes racism is systematic not individual

• emphasizes lived experiences and stories of people of colour

• it critiques selective empathy (whose voices count)

• challenges how laws control racial minorities (welfare policies/surveillance)

Peacemaking criminology

• founded by Pepinsky and Quinney

• argues traditional criminology is “warlike” and divides “us” vs “them” and focuses on punishment

• advocates for: empathy, compassion, and restorative justice

• they reject blaming individuals and emphasizes structural causes

• say that policy should help not punish

• 3 strands: religious, feminist, and critical

• Navajo peacemaking and domestic violence:

  • the system embraces horizontal justice: community-based cultural healing

  • Coker shows how feminist, critical race theory, and peacemaking perspectives intersect: empower women, respect cultural ties, and avoid forcing “one size fits all” solutions like mandatory separation from abusers

Restorative Justice (global perspectives)

• Zehr: crime harms relationships; justice should repair them

• Embraced in New Zealand, African Ubuntu, and Navajo Nation

• principles: focus on healing, community and victim involvement, and reintegration not exclusion

Feminist Criminology: Social Context

• goal: challenge male dominated criminology and highlight women’s experiences. Criticize how past theories ignore gender and how policies criminalize women’s survival strategies (funning away, sex work)

• Developed in the late 1960s during the second wave of feminism.

• Second-wave feminism highlighted the structural oppression of women, general abuses, and crimes against women.

• Key demands of the women’s liberation movement.

• Third wave of Feminism: influenced by post-structural feminism and Critical Race Feminism (1990s).

• Current wave of feminism is influenced by the current political climate.

• example: the #MeToo movement has brought attention to issues of sexual harassment and assault, emphasizing the importance of consent and advocating for systemic changes in how these crimes are addressed.

Historical Developments - Women as Offenders

• Studies of women offenders were a small and neglected area of criminological theorizing.

• Feminists argued that these studies were often sexist or limited in their understanding of women’s involvement in the Criminal Justice System (CJS).

Feminist Perspectives - Women as Victims and Offenders

• Feminism addresses the structural position of women in society.

• Patriarchy is the overarching structure producing fundamental inequalities and disadvantages.

• Study gendered inequality through various feminist lenses:

  • Liberal Feminism: focus on equal rights and how gender role socialization limits women’s opportunities

  • Radical Feminism: Focuses on sexual control, domestic violence, and rape. As well as the male control.

  • Marxist Feminism: says capitalism is the oppressor

  • Socialist: Capitalism + patriarchy are dual sources of oppression.

  • Postmodern Feminism: Challenges universal narratives and embraces diverse voices.

  • multicultural/intersectional: considerers race, class, sexuality, and ability together

• feminist theories show how social structures, not personal choices, often push women into crime or homelessness

• Example: teen girls who run away from abuse are criminalized instead of being protected

  deviance in the streets and in the suites:

• feminist pornography debates:

  • anti porn feminists: porn is violent, reinforces patriarchy

  • pro porn feminists: emphasizes agency, sex education, and female participation

Example: Inequalities in Medical Research

• Under-representation of women in cardiovascular disease prevention and clinical trials.

• Lack of women in late clinical drug trials

• Bias in surgical research.

• Disproportionate funding for gender-specific issues.

• Under-representation of diverse women in clinical trials.

• Limited or lack of reporting based on gender (gender analysis).

• Outcomes are affected by these inequalities.

Biological Explanations

• Belief that women's offending stems from biological causes.

• Biological differences used as a standard to compare men and women to explain specific activities.

• Deterministic theories argue that women’s offending originates from biological causes.

Socialization Theories

• Examination of women as offenders is investigated through the lens of gender socialization.

Gabby Petito + IPV

• Widespread international coverage of her case.

• Netflix documentary-2025

• Discussion of “Missing White Women Syndrome”.

IPV - Experiences of Younger Women

• Canadian research indicates that younger people are more likely to be victims of violence.

• Gender is associated with an increased risk of violence, with women being overrepresented as victims.

Violent Victimization: Experiences of Indigenous Women

• Violence against Indigenous peoples reflects the traumatic and destructive history of colonization.

• Colonization has impacted and continues to impact Indigenous families, communities, and Canadian society overall.

Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

• Persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people

The Surveillance of Dr. Blackstock/government surveillance

• After filing a discrimination complaint about inequitable child welfare services, Dr. Blackstock faced retaliation.

• The Human Rights Tribunal called government actions “wilful and reckless,” showcasing institutional resistance to equity advocacy.

• PRISM (Snowden leak): exposed mass surveillance by NSA

• critical race and peacemaking theories analyze: how law is used to control and justify invasion of privacy, government labeling Snowden a traitor vs. public whist blower, and call for empathy, reform not punishment

• state control: Bianca Tylek and the multibillion dollar US prison industry

  • US prison system is $80-90 billion industry far beyond private prisons, including telecom, healthcare, commissaries, security, construction and more

  • public and private prisons get profit through kickbacks (earning share through high phone call charges)

  • the system is designed to expand so there is more incarceration growing their profits

  • often times prisons are overloaded with inmates and have reduced services to gain profit

The handmaids tale:

• illustrates a society where women's rights are stripped away, reflecting the consequences of a patriarchal system that controls and commodifies individuals based on their reproductive capabilities. This dystopian narrative parallels real-world systemic inequities where marginalized groups face increased victimization and criminalization.

• The story shows:

  • How power can be abused in the name of religion or control.

  • The loss of women’s rights and freedom.

  • The importance of resistance, memory, and identity.

critiques

• accused of being utopian (idealistic), reductionist (only taking about a topic simply), and “playing the race card”

• these critiques miss the point that challenging the status quo is the goal