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Personal Is Empirical: Feminism, Research Methods, and Criminal Justice Education

NCJ Number
141065
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Education Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (Fall 1992) Pages: 237-250
Author(s)
M J McDermott
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper examines some themes that have emerged in feminist discussions of research methodology in criminal justice and other social sciences and shows how these ideas might be included in criminal justice education.
Abstract
Feminist concern about research methods results from their recognition that women experience discrimination because of their gender and their orientation to action to eliminate this subordination. The central themes that have emerged in feminist discussions include (1) the definition of the research question, (2) the research process, (3) the research subject, and (4) issues of action and ethics. The main implications of these themes are that criminal justice education must address issues both of process and of content. The content issues include the integration of gender issues into all courses, the framing of questions, the concept of value-free science, and the use of a variety of methods. 25 references