Gender Politics in the Criminal Justice System Essay

The United States criminal justice system, an outwardly fair organization of integrity and justice, is a perfect example of a seemingly equal situation, which turns out to be anything but for women. The policies imposed in the criminal justice system affect men and women in extremely dissimilar manners. I plan to examine how gender intersects with the understanding of crime and the criminal justice system. Gender plays a significant role in understanding who commits what types of crimes, why they do so, who is most often victimized, and how the criminal justice system responds to these victims and offenders. In order to understand the current state of women and the way in which gender relates to crime and criminal justice, it is first†¦show more content†¦Criminology is the study of crime and is concerned with developing theories on what causes crime, whereas criminal justice focuses more on the processing of victims and offenders. Crime remains a constant problem in every s ociety, no matter how civilized or uncivilized that country may be. Although, the criminal justice system does receive a lot of attention, the attention is focused more on the males in the system rather than the females. Since 1980 the number of women in state and federal prisons has increased at nearly double the rate for men. There are now nearly seven times as many women in state and federal prisons as in 1980, yet there is still a common misconception that the criminal behavior of females is not a serious problem. In fact when I first enrolled in the class I thought there would be a section about gender politics in the criminal justice system because it is an extremely important component in society, and I was disappointed to discover that there was no such section. I feel that this topic is one of importance because the policies and practices of the criminal justice affect all women, directly or indirectly, and is why I chose this subject over the many others. In order to better comprehend the issues in which I will be examining, it is important to have an understanding of the difference between sex and gender, the role and definition of a patriarchal society,Show MoreRelatedEssay about Gender Politics in the US Criminal Justice System1736 Words   |  7 PagesGender Politics in the US Criminal Justice System The state of women in the United States criminal justice system, an apparently fair organization of integrity and justice, is a perfect example of a seemingly equal situation, which turns out to be anything but. While the policies imposed in the criminal justice system have an effect on all Americans, they affect men and women in extremely dissimilar manners. 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