Starts with a historical overview of gender difference, of women’s oppression and of ideas about women and about law. The specific topics include crime, criminality and prisons, education, paid and unpaid work, family relations, poverty and women’s economic disadvantage and violence against women. Feminist analysis and goals are emphasized. An integral concept is quadraplexation: a paradigm that highlights the effects of reproduction, production, sexuality, and socialization in women's lives. Each chapter ends with questions and ideas to think about. Rev. ed. of: Women and (in)justice (2002)
Authors Meda Chesney-Lind and Randall G. Shelden include the relevance of classic theories of delinquency to female juveniles: an impressive amount of historical data and numerous contemporary studies to show that, often, mainstream theories and approaches don't work with female juveniles: and ten in-depth interviews with delinquent girls who share their experiences in the criminal justice system. In addition to greater theoretical development, this edition has been updated with a separate chapter on girls in gangs: important new statistics: and more information on the use of drugs and alcohol, drug-addicted babies, the impact of the newest legislation, and the relative success of alternative programs to incarceration.