Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice

Book excerpt: This book provides a lucid and highly acclaimed introduction to gender issues in crime and criminal justice, central to any understanding of crime and criminal justice policy and practice. This second edition has been updated to take full account of recent developments, particularly in the areas of policing, crime prevention, restorative justice and legislation relating to sexual offences and the nature and impact of crime on women − in particular the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice is divided into three main sections. The first considers different ways of theorising about gender and the relative impact of this on thinking about crime and criminal victimisation; the second considers some of the evidence in relation to people's gendered experiences of crime and criminal victimisation; the third considers how those working within the criminal justice system, and the policies that are put in place, work to sustain or change those experiences of crime and criminal victimisation in relation to gender.