19-20 CR3028: Gender, Sexuality and Crime
Welcome to CR3028 - Gender, Sexuality and Crime
Module leader: Dr. Amanda Matravers
amanda.matravers@rhul.ac.uk
This unit will advance your critical thinking and understanding of the intersections between gender, sexuality and crime. Over the course of 11 weeks, we explore theories of gender and sexuality, and examine how they map onto historical and contemporary criminological and criminal-legal issues.
The field of gender and sexuality has proven rocky terrain in the history of criminology, but it is foundational to our understanding of offenders and victims of crime. This module gives you the opportunity to explore some of these key debates in greater depth, paying particular attention to the construction of sexual offences and women’s deviance and victimisation.
Week 1 Course Introduction
Weeks 2-5 Part One: Understanding Gender & Sexuality
Traditional criminology has been associated with a ‘malestream’ agenda that neglects the impact of gender relations and sexuality on criminal behaviour and victimisation. In these four sessions we consider the ways in which gender and sexuality have been constructed, understood, and represented in different historical, geographical, and social contexts. Our survey of these competing perspectives will provide a firm grounding for our exploration of contemporary criminological issues in the second part of the course.
Week 6 Reading Week
Week 7 Group Presentations
Weeks 8-11 Part Two: Criminalising Gender & Sexuality
The field of criminology has been slow to recognise the value of understanding the intersections between gender, sexuality, crime and victimisation. As we have seen, feminist scholars have been rightly critical of a ‘malestream’ approach that draws on social stereotypes to explain the offending of women and men alike. Fortunately, more recent work in criminology and socio-legal studies has produced more nuanced understandings of the gendered nature of criminality and victimhood. In the second part of this module we will use the perspectives on gender and sexuality that we have studied so far to enhance our understanding of some controversial contemporary issues in criminology: women who kill; child sex offenders; sex work; and extreme pornography.
Module leader: Dr. Amanda Matravers
amanda.matravers@rhul.ac.uk
This unit will advance your critical thinking and understanding of the intersections between gender, sexuality and crime. Over the course of 11 weeks, we explore theories of gender and sexuality, and examine how they map onto historical and contemporary criminological and criminal-legal issues.
The field of gender and sexuality has proven rocky terrain in the history of criminology, but it is foundational to our understanding of offenders and victims of crime. This module gives you the opportunity to explore some of these key debates in greater depth, paying particular attention to the construction of sexual offences and women’s deviance and victimisation.
Week 1 Course Introduction
Weeks 2-5 Part One: Understanding Gender & Sexuality
Traditional criminology has been associated with a ‘malestream’ agenda that neglects the impact of gender relations and sexuality on criminal behaviour and victimisation. In these four sessions we consider the ways in which gender and sexuality have been constructed, understood, and represented in different historical, geographical, and social contexts. Our survey of these competing perspectives will provide a firm grounding for our exploration of contemporary criminological issues in the second part of the course.
Week 6 Reading Week
Week 7 Group Presentations
Weeks 8-11 Part Two: Criminalising Gender & Sexuality
The field of criminology has been slow to recognise the value of understanding the intersections between gender, sexuality, crime and victimisation. As we have seen, feminist scholars have been rightly critical of a ‘malestream’ approach that draws on social stereotypes to explain the offending of women and men alike. Fortunately, more recent work in criminology and socio-legal studies has produced more nuanced understandings of the gendered nature of criminality and victimhood. In the second part of this module we will use the perspectives on gender and sexuality that we have studied so far to enhance our understanding of some controversial contemporary issues in criminology: women who kill; child sex offenders; sex work; and extreme pornography.