Women’s Role in Serial Killing Teams: Reconstructing a Radical Feminist Perspective

This article examines women’s roles in serial killing teams and reconsiders the traditional applications of radical feminist research on serial killers. These applications limit the utility of radical feminist theory for understanding female serial killers who kill in teams. An analysis of patriarchal power relations, which emphasizes the constitutive element of radical feminist theory, provides a useful framework to achieve insight into female serial killers who kill in teams. The advantage of this approach is demonstrated through three case studies of this type of female serial killer: Martha Beck, Myra Hindley, and Karla Homolka.     

Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Women’s Mental Health

This study aimed to explore the mental health needs of women residing in domestic violence shelters; more specifically, we aimed to identify commonalities and differences among their mental health needs. For this purpose, qualitative and quantitative data was collected from 35 women from a Midwestern domestic violence shelter. Hierarchical clustering was applied to quantitative data, and the analysis indicated a three-cluster solution. Data from the qualitative analysis also supported the differentiation of women into three distinct groups, which were interpreted as: (A) ready to change, (B) focused on negative symptoms, and (C) focused on feelings of guilt and self-blame.     

A Website Content Analysis of Women’s Resources and Sexual Assault Literature on College Campuses

In an effort to examine how higher education institutions have provided women with resources to handle issues that disproportionately affect them, this study assessed the availability of women’s resource centers on college campuses within the United States, with a particular focus on sexual assault-related resources. A website content analysis was conducted, through which we coded to assess ease of use, clarity, and comprehensiveness of the programs and information made available to women. Although many universities had sexual assault literature, few had women’s resource centers. In addition, the quality of literature and programs varied greatly among the universities. Future research should attempt to explain organizational differences in college responses to the call for resources, as well as examine women’s experiences with resources on campus. Portions of this research were presented at the 2006 meetings of the American Society of Criminology in Los Angeles, CA and at the 2006 meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society in Omaha, NE.

---

Family Influences on Female Offenders’ Substance Use: The Role of Adverse Childhood Events among Incarcerated Women

Childhood maltreatment, witnessing violence, and growing up with absent, addicted, or mentally ill caregivers influence adult physical and psychological well-being and may play an important role in female offending. This study utilizes data from a study of 60 incarcerated women to examine a possible intervening variable in the victimization-crime relationship. We conduct qualitative analyses to examine family influences on substance use among female offenders. Findings indicate that substance use may arise from a need to cope with child victimization and adversity, and that factors such as poor parental supervision may contribute to girls’ substance use. After onset of drug use, many women may turn to further criminal activity to support their habits. Implications for research and intervention are addressed.     

Spinoza’s Conception of Personal and Political Change: A Feminist Perspective

Law and Critique - By focusing upon three figures: a trade unionist, who can no longer understand or reconcile himself with his past misogynist behaviour; Spinoza’s Spanish poet, who loses...     

Everyday Stranger Harassment and Women’s Objectification

The present research suggests that stranger harassment (i.e., experiencing unwanted sexual attention from strangers in public) is a frequent experience for young adult women, and that it has negative implications for their well-being. First, stranger harassment was positively related to self-objectification (Fredrickson & Roberts, Psychol Women Quart 21:173–206 1997). This was true for women who coped with stranger harassment using common strategies (passive, self-blame, or benign), but not for women who used an uncommon, active coping strategy (e.g., confronting the harasser). Second, stranger harassment experiences and self-objectification were positively related to women’s fear of and perceived risk of rape. Further, women who feared rape were more likely to restrict their freedom of movement. In concert, the findings suggest that stranger harassment may have both direct and indirect negative effects on women’s lives, and that it is a phenomenon worthy of future research.

From the Officer’s Perspective: A Multilevel Examination of Citizens’ Demeanor during Traffic Stops

Over the past 60 years, a substantial body of research has considered the influence of citizens’ demeanor on police behavior; and more recently, the correlates of citizens’ demeanor. This study advances our understanding of the demeanor construct by measuring officers’ perceptions of citizens’ disrespect, non‐compliance, and resistance during traffic stops. Using multilevel statistical models, we examine the correlates of citizens’ demeanor and assess the racial differences in these perceptions. The findings demonstrate that officers’ perceptions of citizens’ demeanor vary across racial/ethnic groups, after controlling for other relevant factors. Although White officers were significantly more likely than Black officers to classify drivers as disrespectful, Black and White officers were equally likely to report drivers as displaying behaviors that were non‐compliant and/or verbally resistant. Black drivers were significantly more likely to be reported as disrespectful, non‐compliant, and/or resistant, regardless of the officers’ race. The implications for future research and policy are discussed.     

Examining Criminal Justice Practitioners’ Views on Collateral Consequences Policy

With the recent emphasis on reentry and the reintegration of offenders back into society, both academics and policy makers have voiced concern over both the process of applying collateral consequences in a particular case and the expanding number of collateral restrictions, some of which are quite severe. Many of these restrictions create significant barriers to reintegration for offenders released from incarceration. While reforms have been proposed, there is a lack of research examining the perceptions of criminal justice actors about collateral consequences of conviction. As parties most familiar with the application of consequences in cases, and the burdens they place on involved parties, the present study surveyed practitioners in a large Midwestern state. The findings suggest that judges, defense attorneys, probation and parole supervisors, and prosecutors are troubled by the role of collateral consequences in offender reentry and are not opposed to repealing or reforming some of these policies. Further, there are significant differences between practitioner groups as to reforms that should be implemented within the state’s criminal justice system.     

Islamo-Arabic Culture and Women’s Law: An Introduction to the Sociology of Women’s Law in Islam

The present paper addresses the mutual relationship between society and law in shaping women’s law in Islam from the perspective of the sociology of law. It analyzes the role of pre-Islamic social, political, and economic structures in the Arabian Peninsula in modeling women’s law and highlights some customary laws which were rejected or revived and integrated in Islamic jurisprudence. In this regard, the paper reviews issues such as polygyny, rights to inheritance, marriage, the process of testimony and acceptable forms of evidence in legal matters, diyya (blood money), the exclusion of women from the judiciary and the system of issuing fatwa (legal opinion), natural right of guardianship (wilāya) of underage children after divorce, and regulations related to the veil. Finally, referring to the manner of the Prophet of Islam, the paper suggests that ?urf (custom) can be considered as a source of Islamic legislation alongside other commonly known sources of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).     

Predictors of Women’s Same-Sex Partner Violence Perpetration

The present study examined family of origin, individual characteristics, and intimate relationship variables as predictors of women’s reports (N?=?209; M?=?29.5 years) of physical aggression toward their current or most recent same-sex partner in the past year. Participants completed measures that assessed a series of family of origin, individual, and intimate relationship variables. Results of a least-squares regression revealed that identifying as heterosexual (as opposed to lesbian), higher levels of relationship fusion, more experiences of psychological aggression victimization, and having more prior physically aggressive relationships were associated with more frequent perpetration of partner violence. Results of exploratory models testing whether internalized homophobia or dominance/accommodation were indirectly related to physical aggression perpetration revealed that fusion (i.e., enmeshment with one’s partner) mediated the relationship between internalized homophobia and perpetration of partner violence. Similarly, fusion mediated the association between dominance/accommodation and the perpetration of partner violence. Findings underscore the importance that individual and relationship characteristics have in predicting partner violence perpetration in women’s same-sex relationships.     

Access to Legal Services in Women’s Shelters

This study examines access to legal services among clients of three Calgary-area domestic violence shelters. The study samples the views of staff and clients at three domestic violence shelters with the goals of improving understanding of clients’ legal service needs, understanding the challenges clients attempting to access legal services encounter and making recommendations for improvement. The authors conclude that clients’ service needs are complex and often involve legal problems, yet shelters face specific organizational barriers to coordinating legal services. The authors recommend that a further analysis be undertaken to examine the legal access patterns of women experiencing domestic violence, to assess the prevalence of the barriers identified in the study and to determine whether further barriers are present in other shelters.     

Young People’s Views on Dating Violence Prevention in an Urban Turkish Context: Developing Effective Practices

Dating violence (DV) among young people is increasingly recognized as a significant problem and preventive efforts targeting adolescents and young adults are being mobilized to tackle it. However, an accumulating body of evidence shows that these efforts fail to adequately capture young people’s needs, particularly those from diverse cultures and contexts, and to incorporate their perspectives into practice. The present study aimed to address this gap by exploring young people’s views on how DV can be prevented and what they expect from prevention programs in an urban Turkish context, where DV remains an under-studied issue and preventive efforts are only slowly progressing. Toward this goal, a qualitative research design was employed. Thirty-nine college students, aged 18–25, were recruited through convenience sampling and individually interviewed in a semi-structured manner. The interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed from a social constructionist perspective. The analysis revealed five main themes that indicated young people’s suggestions for and expectations from DV prevention: 1) setting new dating norms, 2) targeting socialization processes, 3) improving relational competence, 4) improving oneself, and 5) managing obstacles. The findings and practice implications are discussed within a contextual-ecological framework in the changing socio-cultural terrain of Turkey. The study highlights the fact that young people’s views can guide the development of effective, contextually relevant, empowering, and collaborative practices, and indicates the value of listening to young people’s voices in the field of DV prevention.

     

Reflections on Waldron’s Archetypes

Jeremy Waldron argued that the government lawyers responsible for the ‘torture memos’ acted unprofessionally by undermining the prohibition on torture. He did so partly on the basis that that the torture prohibition represents a ‘legal archetype’ which cannot be undermined without doing considerable harm to large bodies of law. This paper argues that, however much intuitive appeal Waldron’s archetype-based analysis may have, its force is inherently limited. This is so for two reasons. First, the claim that the torture prohibition is an archetype for non-brutality can only make a meaningful difference to the integrity of the legal order insofar as ‘brutality’ is understood widely. Waldron, though, reads ‘brutality’ in a narrow fashion. Second, and more importantly, the claim that archetypes are uniquely important to legal reasoning and the legal order is deeply problematic.     

Women’s Productive Role and Marital Violence in Bangladesh

This study assesses the role of womens participation in productive activities in reducing the risk of marital violence. Data were collected from villages where numerous nongovernment organizations (NGOs) had microcredit-based income generating programs for the poor. Both the survey and in-depth interviews were used to collect information from a randomly selected sample of 500 currently married women aged < 50 years living in 70 villages in 10 districts of Bangladesh. Findings reveal that the prevalence of marital violence such as mental torture and physical assault had negative association with womens participation in economic activities. Situation that invoked violence against women had most often been their failure of performing expected role in the household. Womens productive roles not only improved womens position in their household but also significantly reduced both mental torture and physical assault against them. The paper argues that participation in productive activities has the potential to bring a significant reduction in the risk of marital violence among women in the poor community.     

Brushes with the Law: A Conservation Scientist’s Perspective on Legal Solutions and Impediments from Scottish Wildcats to African Lions*

I suggest here that the requirements for conservation evidence within regulation are cyclical in nature, and I describe the key stages in this cycle of conservation regulation. In particular, I focus on: (1) the type of evidence required (illustrated by the case of water voles disrupted by riverside development), (2) the clarity of evidence in terms of its implications for policy (illustrated by the harrowing case of the endangered Scottish wildcat hybridising with the pestilential feral domestic cat), (3) the actual impact such evidence has in practice (illustrated by the legal confusions arising from the changing taxonomy of protected species), and (4) the role of evidence in assessing regulatory efficacy (which returns us to point 1 in the cycle) (illustrated by evidence of the (in)humaneness of, for example, rodent traps, various instances of wildlife trade, and the efficacy of international conventions). The article concludes with a series of reflections on how conservation researchers might engage with legal experts and practitioners for the benefit of wildlife conservation in the twenty-first century: through transdisciplinary research, ethically informed and actively applied.     

Risk Factors for Women’s Intimate Partner Violence Victimization: An Examination from the Perspective of the Schema Therapy Model

This study attempted to examine risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization against women in terms of the schema therapy model (STM). Seventy-nine shelter-residing female IPV victims and 78 married female IPV non-victims participated in the study. The Young Schema Questionnaire Short Form, the Young Parenting Inventory, the Young Compensation Inventory, and the Young Avoidance Inventory were used. The results revealed that being young and having low income were risk factors for IPV victimization. Paternal parenting style was also found to be a further risk factor in addition to demographic variables. Further, the endorsement of disconnection and the unrelenting standards schema domains presented further information predicting IPV victimization above and beyond demographic variables and parenting styles. Maladaptive coping styles did not reveal themselves as maintenance factors for IPV victimization when the information gathered from demographic variables, parenting styles, and schema domains is taken out. The results are discussed in terms of the STM.     

A Legacy of Harm: Punitive Drug Policies and Women’s Carceral Experiences in Canada

There is limited research on the gendered impacts of drug policies in Canada, despite the fact that women, Indigenous women in particular, are the country’s fastest growing prisoner population, with many incarcerated for drug-related crimes. This article highlights the results of a larger qualitative study with former prisoners in Ontario and community and medical experts from across the country. Focusing on the women research participants, we consider the lack of adequate and culturally-relevant substance use and harm reduction programming in federal prisons, and suggest a reformulation of Canada’s punitive drug policies toward a health and social welfare approach.     

The Relationship Between Interpersonal Victimization and Women’s Criminal Sentencing: A Latent Class Analysis

Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of incarcerated women differentiated by experiences of child abuse and intimate partner violence victimization. The abuse subscales of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Abuse Behavior Inventory were used as indicators. Data were drawn from a probability sample of 217 incarcerated women housed in two state-level prisons in North Carolina. Four classes were extracted—Low Victimization, Child Abuse, Lifetime Physical and Psychological Abuse, and Lifetime Sexual Abuse; classes were then related to current sentence length, holding criminological predictors constant. Women in the Child Abuse and Lifetime Sexual Abuse classes had significantly longer sentences, despite the lack of significant between-class differences on criminological predictors. Results suggest that certain victimization patterns, notably experiences of sexual violence, were associated with sentencing disparities despite the use of structured sentencing grids. Recommendations for trauma-informed sentencing are provided.