The Invisible Woman

Joanne Belknap, Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, received a PhD in Criminal Justice and Criminology from Michigan State University in 1986. She is both a Fellow and Past-President of the American Society of Criminology and has written numerous scholarly publications, most of which involve gender-based abuse and the connection between trauma and offending through an intersectional feminist lens. Dr. Belknap has secured almost 2 million dollars in grant money to conduct research on women, girls, and crime; served on state advisory boards for female offenders and women in prison; served on U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno’s Violence Against Women Committee; gave expert testimony to the Warren Christopher Commission investigating the Rodney King police brutality incident in Los Angeles; and taught college classes in women’s and men’s prisons through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. She has received numerous research, teaching, and service awards.

Preface and Acknowledgments
New to This Edition
About the Author
Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1: Gendering Criminology Through an Intersectional Lens
Diversity Among Women and Girls
What Is Feminism?
Women and Girls’ Invisibility
Sex Versus Gender
What Are Feminist Methods?
The Effect of Societal Images on Women Regarding Crime
Summary
Part II: Women And Girls’ Offending
Chapter 2: Theories Part I: Positivist, Evolutionary, Strain, Differential Association, Social Control, and Women’s Emancipation Theories
The Original and Positivist Studies
Biosocial and Evolutionary (Psychological) Theories (BSETs)
Strain Theories
Differential Association Theory (DAT) and Social Learning Theory (SLT)
Social Control Theories (SCTs)
Women’s Liberation/Emancipation Hypothesis (WLEH)
Summary
Chapter 3: Theories Part II: Critical, Labeling, Cycle of Violence, Life Course, Pathways, and Masculinity Theories
Agency and Resiliency
Critical Theories
Labeling Theory (LT)
Developmental and Adverse Life Events Theories
Masculinity Theory (MT)
Summary
Chapter 4: Accounting for Gender–Crime Patterns
Measuring Crime
The Roles of Gender Regarding Co-Offenders, Age, Race, Class, Sexuality, and Mental Illness
Summary
Chapter 5: The Context of Women and Girls’ Offending for Specific Crimes
Drugs and Alcohol: Substance Use, Abuse, and Selling (SUAS)
Theft, Burglary, and Robbery
White-Collar Crimes (WCCs)
Sex Work and Prostitution
Aggression and Assault
Child Abductions/Kidnappings
Homicides
Girls and Women in Gangs
Summary
Chapter 6: Processing Women and Girls in the Criminal Legal System
Hypotheses of Gender Discrimination in the CLS
Chivalry Is Complicated
The Legacy of Racism and Confounding Measures of Race/Ethnicity
Criminal Laws and Gender Discrimination
Processing Youthful Defendants/Offenders
Empirical Findings on Gender Differences in Adult Crime Processing
Chivalry Remains Complicated
Summary
Chapter 7: Incarcerating, Punishing, and “Treating” Offending Women and Girls
The History of Incarcerating Women and Girls
Rates of Incarceration
The Women’s Prison Regime
Educational, Vocational, and Recreational Programs
Health Needs and Access to Services
The Prison Subculture
Sexual Abuse of Women and Girls While Incarcerated
Summary
Part III: Gender-Based Abuse
Chapter 8: Gender-Based Abuse (GBA)
Defining Gender-Based Abuse (GBA)
Culture, Gender Inequality, and GBA
Rates of GBA and the Fear of Crime
Focusing on Intersectional GBA: The History and Its Legacy
Trafficking
Corporate and Environmental GBA
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)
What Does Feminist Reform Look Like?
Summary
Chapter 9: Focusing on Sexual Abuse
Defining Sexual Abuse
Historical Developments in Defining Rape and Other Sexual Abuses
Another Look at Rape Myths and a Rape Culture
Statistics on Sexual Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
College Sexual Abuse
Marital/Spousal/Partner Rape
Sexual Harassment
Sexual Abuse and the Criminal Legal System (CLS)
Summary
Chapter 10: Intimate Partner Abuse (IPA) and Stalking
Defining Intimate Partner Abuse (IPA) and Stalking
The Significance of Coercion/Coercive Control
IPA Tactics
Stalking Tactics
The Historical Identification of IPA and Stalking as Social Problems
The Frequency of IPA and Stalking
Walker’s Cycle Theory of Violence
IPA and Stalking Abusers
IPA and Stalking Victims/Survivors
Inhibitors to Leaving/Returning to an Abusive Relationship and What Helps Survivors Leave
IPA and Stalking and the Criminal Legal System (CLS)
Summary
Part IV: Women Working In The Criminal Legal System
Chapter 11: Women Working in Prisons and Jails
A Brief History of Sex/Gender Discrimination in the Paid Labor Force
Comparing Racial and Gender Workplace Discrimination
The Matron Role: Women’s Breaking Into CLS Jobs Through Sexist Stereotypical Positions
Women as Token Workers
Women Trailblazers
The Significant Role of Legislative and Court Rulings on Women’s Work in the CLS
Prisoner Privacy and Prison Safety: Legal Resistance to Women Guards
Gender Similarities and Differences in Guards’ Job Performance and Attitudes
Summary
Chapter 12: Women Working in Policing and Law Enforcement
What Is Policing?
Women Breaking Into Police Work
Police Officer Identities
Title VII and Other Legislation and Policies
Resistance to Women in Policing
Sexual Harassment
Gender and Stress
Gender Differences in Job Performance
Classifications of Women Police Officers
Women’s Representation in Policing
The Intersection of Racism and Sexual Identity With Gender and Sexism
Summary
Chapter 13: Women Working in the Courts
The History of Women on Juries
The History of Women’s Access to Legal Education and Training
Women in Law Schools Since the 1950s
Women Attorneys
Women Judges
Looking for Gender Differences in Judges’ Decision-Making
Women Law Professors
Summary
Part V: Conclusions
Chapter 14: Effecting Change
Improving Theoretical Approaches
Improving Research Methods
Two Strategies Cutting Across Offending, Victimization, and CLS Workers
Changing the Risks for and Responses to Girls and Women’s Offending
Changing Responses to Gender-Based Abuse (GBA)
Changes for Women Working in the Criminal Legal System (CLS)
Summary
References
Index