Women and Justice

Front Cover
Rowman & Littlefield, 2010 - Law - 231 pages
"Understanding the contemporary place of women's lives requires an understanding of the historical legacies. Utilizing a sociological and feminist lens, Women and Justice examines what justice has meant in the lives of women. The book includes diverse quotes relating to the notion of justice and examines numerous issues both civil and criminal to bring a broader understanding. As the only sociolegal text on the market that attempts to include both civil and criminal issues between two covers, the work is framed by the working term "quadraplexation" a term grounded in the work of feminist theorist Juliet Mitchell. This framework helps us to better understand how and why women are treated the way they are in contemporary society, and it helps to frame our understanding of the historical legal decision-making process. Motherhood, marriage and same-sex coupling, paid and unpaid labor, education, criminal behavior, and women practitioners' lives in the justice system are among the topics included in the text. Suggestions for creating a more just world for women are also included. New in the Second Edition: new introductory chapter frames the concept of justice within the ideas of privilege and oppression; the chapter on education and work has been expanded and separated into two separate chapters; the discussion of feminist jurisprudence has been expanded in order to provide a more firm foundation for the entire text; the definition and discussion of "quadraplexation" has been expanded and clarified; a more generous selection of quotes; women, men, famous, not famous, different race/ethnic origins now appears throughout the book; each chapter now concludes with a simple list of questions and ideas to think about"--Publisher description.
 

Contents

Why Women and Justice?
1
Ideas about Women
15
In the Beginning
31
The US Constitution and the Notion of Equality
45
Crime and Criminality
61
Education
79
Paid and Unpaid Work
93
Women Professionals in the Justice System
115
Unmarried Married and Coupled Womens Lives
129
Economics and Disadvantage Womens Poverty
155
Women Their Bodies and Violence
169
The Housing of Women Criminals
199
In Closing
213
Copyright

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About the author (2010)

Sheryl J. Grana is associate professor of sociology at University of Minnesota Duluth.