Women, Gender, and Crime: A Text/Reader AND Core Concepts
SAGE Journal Articles
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Journal Article 1: Boonzaier, F. (2008). ‘If the man says you must sit, then you must sit’: The relational construction of woman abuse: Gender, subjectivity and violence. Feminism and Psychology, 18, 183–206. DOI:10.1177/0959353507088266
Abstract: Woman abuse and other forms of gender-based violence are key obstacles to gender equity across the globe. Researchers have examined the problem of woman abuse from a multitude of perspectives. However, little research has focused specifically on both partners' constructions of their relationships. This article is based upon a study that examined how women and men in intimate heterosexual relationships attribute meaning to the man's perpetration of violence against a woman partner. Narrative interviews were conducted with women and men who constituted 15 heterosexual couples. In this study participants' narratives of self, other, relationship and violence included ambiguous constructions of victims and perpetrators; constructions of violent relationships as cyclical in nature; constructions of woman abuse as a problem of the self; narrations of violence as a mutual endeavour and all-encompassing narratives of power and control. This study provided insight into the subjective, relational and gendered dynamics of abusive relationships, illustrated the significance of the context in shaping the ways in which experiences are narrated, and showed the value of poststructuralist theorizing to feminist psychology.
Journal Article 2: Brown, C., Trangsrud, H. B., & Linnemeyer, R. M. (2009). Battered women’s process of leaving: A 2-year follow up. Journal of Career Assessment, 17, 439–456. DOI:10.11771069072709334244
Abstract: This study is a follow-up investigation of the career and life experiences of battered women two years after shelter exit. Using consensual qualitative research, we interviewed 6 women from our original sample of 13 regarding their career and life adjustments and future aspirations. Results indicated that participants generally reported both internal and external barriers to their career goals and were dissatisfied with their current housing. In addition, women typically desired education and career advancement with preferred careers in the helping and service fields. Findings imply that long after women leave the shelter and their abusive relationships they will need the continued support of vocational psychologists to provide career assessment and counseling with focus on long-term career and educational opportunities that are commensurate with their chosen fields of interest. Longitudinal research that exceeds a two-year follow-up is needed to comprehensively assess the career needs and life adjustment of battered women survivors.
Journal Article 3: Dobash, R. E., & Dobash, R. P. (2011). What were they thinking? Men who murder an intimate partner. Violence Against Women, 17, 111–134. DOI:10.1177/1077801210391219
Abstract: The focus is on cognitions of men who murder an intimate partner and includes thinking prior to and after the murder. Based on the Murder in Britain Study, the qualitative accounts of various professionals included in the casefiles of 104 men convicted of murdering a woman partner are used to examine beliefs about intimate relationships, orientations toward violence and previous violence to the victim, as well as subsequent denials, rationalizations, and justifications. We conclude that these and other cognitions are important elements of intimate partner murder and must be challenged and changed in efforts to eliminate nonlethal abuse and murder.