Gender,Intersections,Crime and Justice

Abstract

Intersectionality theory and research have offered some of the most profound contemporary breakthroughs in studying inequality and crime. Recognition of the need to consider how intersecting inequalities shape opportunities and constraints in navigating the social world has a long history rooted in Black feminist activism. Within academia, the concept of intersectionality has traveled from its source disciplines to a wide variety of disciplines, has incorporated a vast array of inequalities beyond race, class, and gender, and has been applied to a variety of substantive topics using diverse research methods. Within criminology, we are witnessing an increased focus on studying a diversity of intersecting marginalities and how they relate to a variety of criminological outcomes. The articles in this special issue are illustrative of the current state of intersectionality research in criminology, focusing on a vast array of inequalities and using a variety of research methods to show how a diversity of inequalities intersect to influence offending, victimization, and social control experiences. The articles individually and as a whole effectively deal with intersectionality’s core themes: social inequality, power, relationality, complexity, and social justice. In doing so, the articles convey the utility of adopting an intersectional framework for unpacking experiences with gendered victimization, social control, and offending among multiply marginalized girls and women.

Keywords

intersectionality inequality gender crime victimization social control

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