Abstract
While we are all aware that there were racial, gender, and class disparities throughout American history, many of us do not think about the historical events that led to the creation of such terms. McDonald takes a unique approach to the issues surrounding race, gender, and class in the criminal justice system by not only examining the historical roots of these terms but by connecting how the historical events have shaped today’s definition of these terms. Many textbooks tend to look at the connections between either race or gender or class with criminal justice, but McDonald takes a unique approach by looking at the intersectionality of all three characteristics on criminal justice experiences. This important distinction allows readers to truly understand how each of these characteristics impacts different experiences at different points in the criminal justice system.
Race, Gender, Class, and Criminal Justice is a cogent examination of how these three important characteristics impact individuals at different stages of the criminal justice system. McDonald accomplishes this by taking each concept (race, gender, and class) and examining each as a separate entity to allow readers to get an in depth understanding. Each term is explained through multiple historical examples which show how the term has evolved over the years. This approach is also done for the three major criminal justice components: policing, courts, and corrections. By looking at this issue in this way, it is easier to gain a better understanding about what race, gender, and crime actually are as well as how they intersect not only with the police, courts, and corrections but also with each other differently.
The junction of these characteristics with the major criminal justice sections forms the meat of this text. Instead of explaining what the police, courts, and corrections systems do, McDonald tackles different areas within each section that can be viewed as discriminatory to certain races, genders, or classes. For example, she tackles racial profiling and police, problem-solving versus crime prevention courts, and overuse of incarceration. However, she also goes beyond these three major criminal justice components and examines domestic violence and human trafficking.
This text is organized in a very logical manner, as it starts by defining each term and explaining how the term “crime” is constantly evolving before shifting to examine the relationship between these terms within different parts of the criminal justice system. This layout is extremely beneficial for readers because it provides a starting platform where readers can all form similar definitions of race, class, and gender, which allows for a more unified understanding of the problems related to these issues that are discussed later in the text. Not only does McDonald examine this intersectionality, but she also explores the differences between different combinations of each characteristic. For example, she notes that there is a different experience with the criminal justice system for lower class Hispanic men versus upper class Hispanic women. While the race of the individual remains the same in this example, the class level and gender differ, which contributes to differential treatment.
Danielle McDonald is the assistant chair and an associate professor of criminal justice in the Department of Political Science, Criminal Justice & Organizational Leadership at the Northern Kentucky University. She uses many service learning and student philanthropy pedagogy techniques to engage her students and allow them to connect with what they observe and experience in the community. This approach allows her to see firsthand how race, gender, and class interact with policing, courts, and corrections and makes her a prime candidate to write on this topic. Race, Gender, Class, and Criminal Justice is a perfect outlet for her knowledge on these characteristics intersectionality with one another.
This book provides historically based definitions of race, gender, and class and then critically examines how different combinations of these characteristics shape a person’s interaction and experience with the criminal justice police, courts, and corrections. This manuscript is crucial for scholars to read because it tackles a very relevant issue in today’s research and explains how a one-size-fits-all definition of each term does not allow for a true understanding of their intersectionality in the criminal justice system. It also forces academics to really consider this issue. Does an upper class African American man interact with the criminal justice system in a similar way as an upper class Hispanic man? McDonald challenges us to critically think about these types of questions and forces readers to expand their thinking to actually understand these issues. This better understanding allows researchers to devise policies and plans that will provide a better solution for all parties involved.
