NCJ Number
183969
Date Published
2000
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article argues that moving toward a brighter future in the field of criminal justice requires abandoning conventional thought processes and practices and adopting a fundamentally different way of thinking and acting, and the focus is on what the next century would look like if a feminist orientation toward justice were embraced.
Abstract
Most proposals for change in policies directed at crime and criminal justice are of two types: (1) the systems improvement orientation; and (2) the crime prevention and social reform orientation. If current trends in criminal justice and corrections hold, particularly the emphasis on punitive sanctions and incarceration, relief from the crime problem punishment is supposed to address will not be forthcoming. Feminism is proposed as a set of values, beliefs, and experiences that may offer an alternative to existing criminal justice and crime control policies. Feminist insistence on equality in sexual, racial, economic, and other types of relations stems from the recognition that all human beings are equally tied to the human condition, equally deserving of respect for their personhood, and equally worthy of survival. Feminist jurisprudence is explored in relation to modes of moral reasoning and the dilemmas of defense and protection in the criminal justice context. Future developments associated with the feminist orientation to criminal justice are examined. 16 references and 5 notes