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Welcome to the Research Guide for CRJ-0290: Women in the Criminal Justice System!
Here you'll find an introduction to related resources available through Kistler Memorial Library, including ebooks, databases, government information and more. Contact us with any questions, comments, or recommendations.
(See our tips for using the Library Catalog.)
Encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries and other reference books can be a great place to start your research. They will:
The Oxford Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Crime by Research on gender, sex, and crime today remains focused on topics that have been a mainstay of the field for several decades, but it has also recently expanded to include studies from a variety of disciplines, a growing number of countries, and on a wider range of crimes. The Oxford Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Crime reflects this growing diversity and provides authoritative overviews of current research and theory on how gender and sex shape crime and criminal justice responses to it. The editors, Rosemary Gartner and Bill McCarthy, have assembled a diverse cast of criminologists, historians, legal scholars, psychologists, and sociologists from a number of countries to discuss key concepts and debates central to the field. The Handbook includes examinations of the historical and contemporary patterns of women's and men's involvement in crime; as well as biological, psychological, and social science perspectives on gender, sex, and criminal activity. Several essays discuss the ways in which sex and gender influence legal and popular reactions to crime. An important theme throughout The Handbook is the intersection of sex and gender with ethnicity, class, age, peer groups, and community as influences on crime and justice. Individual chapters investigate both conventional topics - such as domestic abuse and sexual violence - and topics that have only recently drawn the attention of scholars - such as human trafficking, honor killing, gender violence during war, state rape, and genocide. The Oxford Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Crime offers an unparalleled and comprehensive view of the connections among gender, sex, and crime in the United States and in many other countries. Its insights illuminate both traditional areas of study in the field and pathways for developing cutting-edge research questions.
Handbook on Effective Prosecution Responses to Violence Against Women and Girls by Prosecutors play a critical role in the criminal justice response to violence against women and girls. Prosecuting gender based violent crime can be challenging. Often there are a number of challenges, due to the private nature of the offence, and police investigation may be substandard. Victims may be uncooperative, withdraw or recant their complaints. Judges or juries may employ gender bias or common myths surrounding violence against women and girls when examining the credibility of the victim and the facts of the case. Drawing upon the updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (General Assembly resolution 65/228, annex), UNODC and UN Women have drafted the Handbook on Effective Prosecution Responses to Violence against Women and Girls. Recognizing that prosecutors work in different legal systems, it is meant to be a helpful resource for individual prosecutors and prosecution services.
The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice by "This encyclopedia offers a state-of-the-art survey informed by the very latest theory and research. It combines this breadth of coverage with the authority and international perspective of an experienced editorial team, creating a definitive reference resource for students, scholars, and professionals in these interdisciplinary and dynamic fields."
Essential Criminology by "Designed as an alternative to overly comprehensive, lengthy, and expensive introductory texts, Essential Criminology is, as its title implies, a concise overview of the field. The book guides students through the various definitions of crime and the different ways crime is measured."
Encyclopedia of Street Crime in America by "Anyone living or working in a city has feared or experienced street crime at one time or another; whether it be a mugging, purse snatching, or a more violent crime. In the U.S., street crime has recently hovered near historic lows; hence, the declaration of certain analysts that street life in America has never been safer. But is it really? Street crime has changed over past decades, especially with the advent of surveillance cameras in public places—the territory of the street criminal—but at the same time, criminals have found ways to adapt. This encyclopedic reference focuses primarily on urban lifestyle and its associated crimes, ranging from burglary to drug peddling to murder to new, more sophisticated forms of street crime and scams. This traditional A-to-Z reference has significant coverage of police and courts and other criminal justice sub-disciplines while also featuring thematic articles on the sociology of street crime. Features & Benefits: 175 signed entries within a single volume in print and electronic formats provide in-depth coverage to the topic of street crime in America. Cross-References and Suggestions for Further Readings guide readers to additional resources. Entries are supported by vivid photos and illustrations to better bring the material alive. A thematic Reader's Guide groups related entries by broad topic areas and, within the electronic version, combines with Cross-References and a detailed Index for convenient search-and-browse capabilities. A Chronology provides readers with a historical perspective of street crime in America. Appendices provide sources of data and statistics, annotated to highlight their relevance."
Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics by "The Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics includes A to Z entries by experts in the field that explore the scope of ethical decision making and behaviors within the spheres of criminal justice systems, including policing, corrections, courts, forensic science, and policy analysis and research."
Careers for the Criminal Justice Major by "The purpose of this book is to address the proper preparation for careers in criminal justice. Now more than ever, there is a societal demand for willing college graduates who are prepared to enter the field at the basic level, and eager to develop themselves into positions of responsibility and leadership. Due to rapid and continuous changes in technology and overall society, students entering the field of criminal justice employment will be expected to adjust to changes in their line of work. This book describes the realistic descriptions of the various entry-level positions that are offered, and practical information is provided to maximize efficiency in the selection of academic courses that will improve a student's likelihood of success during the application process."
Control and Protect: Collaboration, Carceral Protection, and Domestic Sex Trafficking in the United States by Control and Protect explores the meaning and significance of efforts designed to combat sex trafficking in the United States. A striking case study of the new ways in which law enforcement agents, social service providers, and nongovernmental advocates have joined forces in this campaign, this book reveals how these collaborations consolidate state power and carceral control. This book examines how partnerships forged in the name of fighting domestic sex trafficking have blurred the boundaries between punishment and protection, victim and offender, and state and nonstate authority.
Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Prevention, Advocacy, and Trauma-Informed Practice by "This is the first comprehensive text to critically analyze the current research and best practices for working with children, adolescents, and adults involved in sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). With a unique, research-based focus on practice, the book synthesizes the key areas related to working with victims of sex trafficking/ CSE including prevention, identification, practice techniques, and program design as well as suggested interagency, criminal justice, and legislative responses. Best practices are examined through an intersectional, trauma-informed lens that adheres to principles of cultural competency.Highlights include: Integrates a trauma informed lens in practice, program design, and interagency responses.Uses an intersectional approach to examine identity-based oppression such as race, class, sex, LGBTQ identities, age, immigrant status, and intellectual disabilities.Highlights the importance of cultural competency in practice and program design, prevention and outreach efforts, and interagency and criminal justice system responses.Reviews the different types of sex trafficking and CSE, the physiological and psychological effects, various risk factors, and the distinct needs of survivors to encourage practitioners to tailor interventions to the specific needs of each client.Examines the role of social workers and practitioners in interagency, legislative, and criminal justice responses to sex trafficking. Takes a broad societal perspective by examining the role of macro-level risk factors facilitating sex trafficking victimization.The book analyzes the commonly reported indicators of sex trafficking/CSE, how to conduct a screening with potential victims, and direct practice techniques with various populations including evidence-based trauma treatments. Other chapters guide the reader in implementing trauma-informed programming in a variety of organizational settings, advocating for sex trafficking and CSE survivors within the criminal justice system, and implementing effective prevention and outreach programs in schools and community organizations.Intended as a text for upper division courses on sex or human trafficking, interventions with women, trauma interventions, violence against women, or gender and crime taught in social work, psychology, counseling, and criminal justice, this book is also an ideal resource for practitioners working with victims of sex trafficking and CSE in a variety of settings including child protective services, the criminal justice system, healthcare, schools, and more."
Home Safe Home: Housing Solutions for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence by Housing matters for everyone, as it provides shelter, security, privacy, and stability. For survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), housing takes on an additional meaning; it is the key to establishing a new life, free from abuse. IPV survivors often face such inadequate housing options, however, that they must make excruciating choices between cycling through temporary shelters, becoming homeless, or returning to their abusers. Home Safe Home offers a multifaceted analysis that accounts for both IPV survivors'needs and the practical challenges involved in providing them with adequate permanent housing. Incorporating the varied perspectives of the numerous housing providers, activists, policymakers, and researchers who have a stake in these issues, the book also lets IPV survivors have their say, expressing their views on what housing and services can best meet their short and long-term goals. Researchers Hilary Botein and Andrea Hetling not only examine the federal and state policies and funding programs determining housing for IPV survivors, but also provide detailed case studies that put a human face on these policy issues. As it traces how housing options and support mechanisms for IPV survivors have evolved over time, Home Safe Home also offers innovative suggestions for how policymakers and advocates might work together to better meet the needs of this vulnerable population.
Addicted to Rehab: Race, Gender, and Drugs in the Era of Mass Incarceration by After decades of the American “war on drugs” and relentless prison expansion, political officials are finally challenging mass incarceration. Many point to an apparently promising solution to reduce the prison population: addiction treatment. In Addicted to Rehab, Bard College sociologist Allison McKim gives an in-depth and innovative ethnographic account of two such rehab programs for women, one located in the criminal justice system and one located in the private healthcare system—two very different ways of defining and treating addiction. McKim's book shows how addiction rehab reflects the race, class, and gender politics of the punitive turn. As a result, addiction has become a racialized category that has reorganized the link between punishment and welfare provision. While reformers hope that treatment will offer an alternative to punishment and help women, McKim argues that the framework of addiction further stigmatizes criminalized women and undermines our capacity to challenge gendered subordination. Her study ultimately reveals a two-tiered system, bifurcated by race and class.
Gender Violence: Prevalence, Implications, and Global Perspectives by This timely book begins a conversation about a field of practice which has been marred by victims of all kinds, races, and cultures. The author aims is to allow a platform for a country-to-country dialogue. A conversation that centers not only on where people are physically located, but what violence means when coupled with gender differences. This book examines different types of violence and its effect on different cultures from a global perspective, but also shares the prevalence and implications these acts have for humanity as a whole.
Sex Crimes: Transnational Problems and Global Perspectives by Sex crimes, such as rape, child sexual abuse, and intimate partner violence, are increasingly transnational in nature, introducing unique cross-border and cross-cultural challenges for police, the courts, and the law. Policy makers and practitioners are in need of a resource that explores the incidence, prosecution, and treatment of sexual crimes across different countries and cultures.This book is the first to investigate all aspects of sexual crimes and the policy and management initiatives developed to address them from a transnational, global perspective. Introducing an array of tools for reducing the prevalence and consequences of sex crimes, this volume brings together leading scholars in criminology, criminal justice, social work, and law to discuss topics ranging from sex trafficking and sex tourism to pornography, cyberstalking, and sexual abuse in the military and the Catholic church. Case studies track the reporting of these crimes, the methods used to interview victims and perpetrators, and the policies enacted to punish those involved.
Cultural Considerations in Intervention with Women and Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence by Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common and tragic event in the lives of women and children around the world. Estimates of lifetime occurrence range from 5% in Japan to 71% in Ethiopia, with at least 25% in the United States. The United Nations Secretary-General indicates that as many as 275 million children worldwide are exposed to violence in their homes every year. In addition to the financial and societal costs, women and children who experience IPV are at risk for developing physical injuries, heath problems, depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, and associated work and academic problems. Yet few countries offer services that have been proven to be effective in supporting these women and children. In this volume, two programs are described that have been found to be effective in reducing negative consequences and promoting resilience for diverse groups of women and children in North America. The subsequent chapters address what it would take to implement these or other such programs in countries around the world, including Sweden, Ukraine, Rwanda, Honduras, Peru and Pakistan. The authors are scholars in social work and psychology who work with women and children exposed to intimate partner violence and who are involved in researching issues related to the effects of IPV on women and children. Clearly, IPV is a global public health issue and this thought-provoking volume suggests ways to address it using culturally appropriate adaptations.
Domestic Violence: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Perspectives by The concept of domestic violence refers to acts of violence and abuse of one family member over another. Family violence is an issue of major concern for psychologists and families, community and social decision-makers. It is a dramatic phenomenon, which generates pain, trauma, physical and psychological scars. This book provides an overview of the prevalence, risk factors and several perspectives of domestic violence. Chapter One is about attachment as a vulnerability factor of victimization in the context of intimate partner violence. Chapter Two analyzes animal cruelty and intimate partner violence. Chapter Three focuses on violence against women and child maltreatment. Chapter Four emphasizes the victimization experience (direct and indirect) of children in the family context. Chapter Five presents data of the Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence Scale (CEDVS) applied in Brazil. Chapter Six discusses the phenomenon of domestic violence between same-sex intimate partners. Chapter Seven studies domestic violence arising from a concept of honor and referred to as honor based violence. Chapter Eight presents current literature on the effectiveness of domestic violence interventions targeting adult perpetrators and adult and child victims. Chapter Nine provides the latest results of the research on facilitating successful treatment processes in perpetrator programs. Chapter Ten examines the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 in Bangladesh. Chapter Eleven aims to determine whether there is an association between domestic violence and suicide risk in female victims of domestic violence attending the Multidisciplinary Center for Comprehensive Care of Violence. The last chapter sets out to show that gender based violence is no longer restricted to “women by men.'
Expanding the Gaze: Gender and the Politics of Surveillance by From sexualized selfies and hidden camera documentaries to the bouncers monitoring patrons at Australian nightclubs, the ubiquity of contemporary surveillance goes far beyond the National Security Agency's bulk data collection or the proliferation of security cameras on every corner.Expanding the Gaze is a collection of important new empirical and theoretical works that demonstrate the significance of the gendered dynamics of surveillance. Bringing together contributors from criminology, sociology, communication studies, and women's studies, the eleven essays in the volume suggest that we cannot properly understand the implications of the rapid expansion of surveillance practices today without paying close attention to its gendered nature. Together, they constitute a timely interdisciplinary contribution to the development of feminist surveillance studies.
Criminalized Mothers, Criminalizing Mothering by As the fastest growing prison population worldwide, more and more women are living in cages and most of them are mothers. This alarm- ing trend has huge ramifications for women, children and communities across the globe. Empathy for mothers behind bars and concern for criminalized mothers in the community is in short supply. Mothers are criminalized for their vulnerabilities and for making unpopular but difficult choices under material and ideological conditions not of their own choosing. Criminalized Mothers, Criminalizing Mothering shines a spot- light on mothers who are, by law or social regulation, criminalized and examines their troubles and triumphs. This book offers a critical and compassionate lens on social (in)justice, mass incarceration, and collective miseries women experience (i.e., economic inequality, gendered violence, devalued care work, lone-parenting etc.). This book is also about mothers' encounters with systems of control, confinement, and criminalization, but also their experiences of care.
Jailcare: Finding the Safety Net for Women Behind Bars by Thousands of pregnant women pass through our nation's jails every year. What happens to them as they carry their pregnancies in a space of punishment? In this time when the public safety net is frayed, incarceration has become a central and racialized strategy for managing the poor. Using her ethnographic fieldwork and clinical work as an ob-gyn in a women's jail, Carolyn Sufrin explores how jail has, paradoxically, become a place where women can find care. Focusing on the experiences of incarcerated pregnant women as well as on the practices of the jail guards and health providers who care for them, Jailcare describes the contradictory ways that care and maternal identity emerge within a punitive space presumed to be devoid of care. Sufrin argues that jail is not simply a disciplinary institution that serves to punish. Rather, when understood in the context of the poverty, addiction, violence, and racial oppression that characterize these women's lives and their reproduction, jail can become a safety net for women on the margins of society.
Complicated Lives: Girls, Parents, Drugs, and Juvenile Justice by Complicated Lives focuses on the lives of sixty-five drug-using girls in the juvenile justice system (living in group homes, a residential treatment center, and a youth correctional facility) who grew up in families characterized by parental drug use, violence, and child maltreatment. Vera Lopez situates girls'relationships with parents who fail to live up to idealized parenting norms and examines how these relationships change over time, and ultimately contribute to the girls'future drug use and involvement in the justice system. While Lopez's subjects express concerns and doubt in their chances for success, Lopez provides an optimistic prescription for reform and improvement of the lives of these young women and presents a number of suggestions ranging from enhanced cultural competency training for all juvenile justice professionals to developing stronger collaborations between youth and adult serving systems and agencies.
In Search of Safety: Confronting Inequality in Women's Imprisonment by In Search of Safety takes a close look at the sources of gendered violence and conflict in women's prisons. The authors examine how intersectional inequalities and cumulative disadvantages are at the root of prison conflict and violence and mirror the women's pathways to prison. Women must negotiate these inequities by developing forms of prison capital—social, human, cultural, emotional, and economic—to ensure their safety while inside. The authors also analyze how conflict and subsequent violence result from human-rights violations inside the prison that occur within the gendered context of substandard prison conditions, inequalities of capital among those imprisoned, and relationships with correctional staff. In Search of Safety proposes a way forward—the implementation of international human-rights standards for U.S. prisons.
The Women in Blue Helmets by The Women in Blue Helmets tells the story of the first all-female police unit deployed by India to the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia in January 2007. Lesley J. Pruitt investigates how the unit was originated, developed, and implemented, offering an important historical record of this unique initiative. Examining precedents in policing in the troop-contributing country and recent developments in policing in the host country, the book offers contextually rich examination of all-female units, explores the potential benefits of and challenges to women's participation in peacekeeping, and illuminates broader questions about the relationship between gender, peace, and security.
Tainted Witness: Why We Doubt What Women Say About Their Lives by In 1991, Anita Hill's testimony during Clarence Thomas's Senate confirmation hearing brought the problem of sexual harassment to a public audience. Although widely believed by women, Hill was defamed by conservatives and Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. The tainting of Hill and her testimony is part of a larger social history in which women find themselves caught up in a system that refuses to believe what they say. Hill's experience shows how a tainted witness is not who someone is, but what someone can become. Why are women so often considered unreliable witnesses to their own experiences? How are women discredited in legal courts and in courts of public opinion? Why is women's testimony so often mired in controversies fueled by histories of slavery and colonialism? How do new feminist witnesses enter testimonial networks and disrupt doubt? Tainted Witness examines how gender, race, and doubt stick to women witnesses as their testimony circulates in search of an adequate witness. Judgment falls unequally upon women who bear witness, as well-known conflicts about testimonial authority in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries reveal. Women's testimonial accounts demonstrate both the symbolic potency of women's bodies and speech in the public sphere and the relative lack of institutional security and control to which they can lay claim. Each testimonial act follows in the wake of a long and invidious association of race and gender with lying that can be found to this day within legal courts and everyday practices of judgment, defining these locations as willfully unknowing and hostile to complex accounts of harm. Bringing together feminist, literary, and legal frameworks, Leigh Gilmore provides provocative readings of what happens when women's testimony is discredited. She demonstrates how testimony crosses jurisdictions, publics, and the unsteady line between truth and fiction in search of justice.
Sexual Violence on Campus: Power-Conscious Approaches to Awareness, Prevention, and Response by Activists have been working to call attention to the problem of campus sexual violence for decades, and in recent years, policymakers, campus administrators, and researchers have begun to make serious efforts to address this issue. Despite this increase in attention, many campus leaders still struggle to effectively address campus sexual violence, often over-relying on policy to address sexual violence after it happens, rather than working to prevent it from occurring in the first place. Moreover, rates of sexual victimization on college campuses have not changed in 60 years, highlighting the need for a change in action, training and behaviour. The root of sexual violence is power oppression, yet most policies and practices are based on identity- and power-neutral perspectives. Well-intended prevention efforts frequently focus on teaching potential victims how not to get raped, rather than teaching potential perpetrators not to rape. Further, most policies, practices, and research focus on only one type of victim of sexual violence: a white cisgender heterosexual college woman. Strategies that fail to account for the ways sexual violence and power intersect cannot deliver effective solutions. Based on a wide-ranging review of research, combined with her 10 years'of experience as an educator and co-ordinator of services for survivors of campus sexual violence, Chris Linder advances a power-conscious lens to challenge student activists, administrators, educators, and policy makers to develop more nuanced approaches to sexual violence awareness, response, and prevention on college campuses.
Sexual Assault Victimization Across the Life Span: Investigation, Diagnosis, and the Multidisciplinary Team by "This first volume serves as a complete guide for multidisciplinary team members involved in the investigation of sexual assault. It includes comprehensive medical guides for the diagnosis and treatment of assaultive trauma; legal guides to investigation and prosecution; and guidelines for the role of first responders in cases of sexual assault, including EMS and law enforcement professionals. Supplemented by nearly 200 full-color photographs, this new title offers an excellent visual reference for professionals in the field, in addition to in-depth guidelines for diagnostic and investigative procedures in response to sexual assault."
Assessing Dangerousness: Domestic Violence Offenders and Child Abusers by "Practitioners in the social, behavioral, and health fields often work with perpetrators and survivors of interpersonal violence. Many are asked to make predictions about the likelihood of future violence. Assessing Dangerousness reviews the intricacies of predicting intimate partner violence and homicide as well as child abuse and homicide to better prepare readers to make such assessments. Extensively revised, this classic volume highlights the latest research in clear and accessible language. Each contributor, a noted expert in their field, has faced the difficult task of assessing the risk of intimate partner violence and child abuse in courtrooms, clinics, shelters, hospitals, schools, and more. Their experience in research and practice makes this the go-to resource for anyone required to make predictions about violent behavior in family settings. Presents clinical and court examples requiring the assessment of risk and danger that appeals to practitioners in social work, psychology, nursing, counseling, criminology, and public health. Introduces an evidence based approach that practitioners can use to integrate risk assessment in a variety of settings. Covers the latest risk assessment instruments for use in the field including the Danger Assessment, the DVSI-R, and the ODARA. Highlights the newest and most promising applications of risk assessment such as the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment Program. Synthesizes related legal and ethical issues to help practitioners implement risk assessment in a responsible way. Identifies prediction factors and risk markers for use in interventions. Exposes the overlap between child and intimate partner homicide, instrumental in identifying families with multiple risks. Presents the latest research on the risk of re-assault in intimate partner violence and risk over the life course. Reviews the latest version of Dr. Campbell's Danger Assessment, the most widely used homicide risk assessment instrument for intimate partner violence survivors. Introduces two new authors in the chapters on child abuse lethality assessments and risk of IPV exposing readers to the rising stars in the field."
