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This book is a highly useful resource of the place of women in the criminal justice system; a subject which has - until recently been largely ignored by criminologists. I read the second edition of the book, published in 1996. This text provides a plethora of information on firstly, how women are dealt with as offenders within the criminal justice system and secondly, looks at the theories surrounding how and why women get involved within the system and criticisms of these theories where possible.
The sequence of studies contained in this book are enlightening but there are definite gaps in the research up to this point which Heidensohn points out. As well as this, she illustrates the difficulties of compiling any research which can tell us anything specific about gender in relation to crime.
This is a decent read which offers a fresh perspective on the subject of criminology and offers up images of femininity as well as encouraging current research about males to assess the product of masculinity in relation to their research rather than viewing male crime as the norm. Most of all this book encourages us to look at crime and criminality through gender-tinted glasses to achieve a fuller understanding of it.
I have been reading, just not updating due to an influx of before mid-term tests. Anyway this book was lent to me by a friend. It was I thought a pretty good description explored in different perspectives when Dana a male-female transexual about to receive a sex change operation tells his (will refer to as his until post-sex change otherwise I get confused) girlfriend and the wider community becomes aware of it. The story is also punctuated by excerpts of a radio show on transexuality and gender dysphoria.
Allie, Dana's girlfriend goes through highs and lows confused about her own sexual orientation through the process of Dana's transformation. Her daughter, Carly who has gone off to college adjusts to the news and tries throughout the book to create her own concept of gender which is so fluid yet seems so stringent. The struggles of Dana are also told, depressive teenage years, parents who don't understand and a final acceptance. These characters are all very real, the story very poignant and it also shows the reaction people can have to something which even in this day and age is widely misunderstood. It's also effective that Dana, once a female attempts to maintain her relationship with Allie and also is forced to confront her own sexual orientation, which is also quite fluid.
This book I thought did a very good job of exploring how a sex change operation affects both the person undertaking it, and more widely the people around. I highly recommend it.
