Feminist criminology: inequalities, powerlessness, and justice

This chapter addresses complexities and continuing concerns in thinking about feminist perspectives and contributions to criminology. In it, we chart feminist contributions to criminology over time, dwelling on the paradigmatic shifts in criminology in both substantive and epistemological and methodological terms, extending both the terrain of criminological theorizing and understanding of knowledge forms. We also explore the notion of feminist criminology as a transitional phase towards a more humanistic stance in relation to crime and justice in a globalised context. The chapter considers synergies between feminist contributions and other work which has focused on inequalities before the law and addresses the issue of migrant offenders and victims, criminal behaviour and criminal justice, as well as victims of human trafficking, these being examples of the problematic dichotomy between victims and offenders