Violence in Europe

Bridging the Gap Between Violence and Gendered Contexts of Crime

Martina Althoff, from the University of Groningen, made a contribution to the 2012 Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, in the category “Criminological Theory, Research and Education,” under the title “Bridging the Gap Between Violence and Gendered Contexts of Crime”. Here is the abstract: Feminist criminology has changed criminology by showing and criticizing the blind spots of the gender neutral research: First it leads to more attention for violence against women, second it produces insights into the connection between violence and masculinity, and third it opens a view on the selective mechanism of criminal justice. Combining these 3 aspects, this presentation will go further; it will consist of a critical analysis of the gender concept from criminological research about violence. Understanding the connection between violence and gender requires a differentiated view that takes into account the gendered context of crime. Getting beyond the affirmation of dichotomous constructions of gender (male/female) and of crime (offender/victim) the gender gap of crime and differences of crime rates fade out. The discussion will highlight the limitations of one-dimensional explanations of violence and will indicate future directions of criminology. Changing the focus of the methodological perspective by using qualitative approaches to reconstruct the gendered context of crime takes into account the multiple dimensions of gendered identities and its intersection. The presentation will show that this perspective helps to prevent misunderstandings of what is (gendered) violence and how it is explained.

Resources

See Also

Further Reading

• “Bridging the Gap Between Violence and Gendered Contexts of Crime”, by Martina Althoff (Proceedings)