Lecture 0092 9:05-9:55a MW
Corequisite discussions (Choose one):
0093 10:10-11:00a F 0094 10:10-11:00a F 0095 11:15-12:05p F 0096 11:15-12:05p F
In this course, we will explore the ways in which gender shapes the perpetration, experience, and response to crime, especially violent crime. The course will be organized around the following questions: how does gender affect patterns of criminality? Why, in our culture, are men more willing to engage in crime than women? How does gender shape the experience of crime and violence? Finally, how does gender– especially beliefs about how men and women should and should not act– affect the way society responds to different types of violence?
The course has three main sections. In Part I we will discuss what gender is and how it shapes our experience of the social world. The main objective of this section of the course is to explore whether and how cultural conceptions of masculinity and femininity shape our identities, experiences, and opportunities. In Part II, we will explore the ways in which gender informs confrontations between men, urban "street crime," rape, family violence, and female criminality. The main questions we will explore are: why are men more likely than women to commit violent crimes? How does gender shape which crimes men and women commit and how they perpetrate them? How are the various types of violence mentioned above "gendered," that is, shaped by gender? In Part III we will analyze the way in which gender (and race and class) shape the social and legal response to crime and violence.
Throughout the course, we will focus on the development of important skills and capacities. These skills include identifying and evaluating arguments, comparing and applying theoretical approaches, analytical thinking, developing and supporting arguments, and many others. Each of the assignments will be oriented toward the development of these skills. Exams will consist primarily of essay questions.