Centering Mothers in Feminist Criminology: A Critical Review of Literature on Mothers of Victims and Offenders

Keren Gueta, Rachel Condry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on mothers of victims and mothers of offenders through a feminist criminological lens. Results of our analysis of 52 articles from a twenty-year period indicated that, though situated on opposite sides of the criminal justice system, aspects of the experiences of mothers of victims and offenders were similar. Specifically, the mothers shared perceived accountability for their offspring’s involvement in crime, the burden of care for their offspring, and the negotiation strategies they employed. Our analysis makes visible these mothers as a unique sub-category in the study of crime and proposes a matricentric feminist criminology model.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)443-474
Number of pages32
JournalFeminist Criminology
Volume19
Issue number5
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Keywords

  • mental health
  • motherhood
  • social constructions of female deviance
  • stigma
  • victimology

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