The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime, and Justice

Product Description

The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime, and Justice offers a thorough exploration of the theories and issues regarding the experiences of women and girls with the criminal justice system as victims, offenders, and criminal justice professionals. Working to counter the “invisibility” of women in criminal justice, this definitive text utilizes a feminist perspective that incorporates current research, theory, and the intersections of sexism with racism, classism, and other types of oppression. Focusing on empowerment of marginalized populations, author Joanne Belknap’s gendered approach to the criminal justice system examines how to improve the visibility of women and to promote their role in society.

Review

“The Invisible Woman should be a required text for every Criminal Justice student. It provides an in-depth look at women in the criminal justice system from a feminist perspective that examines women offenders to women practitioners in the field. The approach is very appealing, especially in our current political climate.” — Angelina Inesia-Forde

“The Invisible Woman is the authority, in my opinion, for discussions about gender and crime…It is a straightforward and compelling text that applies a feminist perspective in understanding complex issues, involving women and gender, crime, offending, victimization, and the practitioner experience.” — Christina Mancini

“I appreciate that this text offers a balance of addressing theory, offending, victimization, and women’s participation in criminal justice institutions. The text’s commitment to a feminist perspective provides a welcome distinction from other currently available books.” — Benjamin D. Albers

“The text provides informative and insightful information on what’s happening with women while providing strategic activities on how to improve the visibility of women to ensure programs, services, and promote their role in society.” — Robbin Day Brooks

“The Invisible Woman is the best book out there to date.” — J. Robert Duke

About the Author

Joanne Belknap, Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, received a PhD in Criminal Justice and Criminology from Michigan State University in 1986. She is both a Fellow and Past-President of the American Society of Criminology and has written numerous scholarly publications, most of which involve gender-based abuse and the connection between trauma and offending through an intersectional feminist lens. Dr. Belknap has secured almost 2 million dollars in grant money to conduct research on women, girls, and crime; served on state advisory boards for female offenders and women in prison; served on U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno’s Violence Against Women Committee; gave expert testimony to the Warren Christopher Commission investigating the Rodney King police brutality incident in Los Angeles; and taught college classes in women’s and men’s prisons through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. She has received numerous research, teaching, and service awards.