Rutgers Scholars’ Contributions to Understanding Gender in Criminology: Longitudinal Reflections

• In Event: Rutgers 50th Anniversary: The Progression of Research on Gender in Criminology

Abstract

The pioneering work of Freda Adler during the formative years of the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice provided a groundbreaking turn in the criminological treatment of gender. In this presentation, I situate Adler’s work in the continuing evolution of scholarship on gender, crime and justice, highlighting key contributions by Rutgers SCJ scholars in the decades since the 1975 publication of Sisters in Crime. I describe how Adler’s work and that of Rutgers Ph.D. Lisa Maher shaped my own thinking on gender and crime and then trace the continuing development of gender and criminology. I focus on notable shifts towards queering our approach to studies of gender, crime and justice, as well as newer generations of Rutgers scholars’ international/comparative and intersectional understandings of how gender shapes processes of and experiences within criminal legal systems.

Author

• Jody Miller, Rutgers University