Skip to main content

Experiences of Trans Scholars in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Critical Criminology volume 29, pages 37–56 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Trans individuals experience disproportionately high rates of victimization, discrimination and disparate treatment by the criminal processing system, as well as misrepresentation by the media. The importance and validity of studying transgender people’s experiences in the criminal processing system is beginning to be highlighted in criminology and criminal justice (CCJ), while the experiences of trans academics—who are among those leading the push toward the amplification of this line of research—remain largely unexplored. The authors, four transmasculine scholars in CCJ, draw from auto-ethnographic methods to shed light on the experiences of trans scholars within the academy and, in particular, within CCJ. We highlight how being trans has affected our experiences in various capacities as academics. We conclude by presenting suggestions for transgender scholars and their cisgender colleague and administrator allies.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Notes

  1. Throughout this article, we use “transgender” and “trans” interchangeably to indicate both binary and nonbinary individuals whose gender does not match the one they were assigned at birth.

  2. Throughout this article, we use “LGBTQIA + ” to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and other marginalized identities related to sexuality and/or gender modality. Occasionally, however, we switch to other acronyms (e.g., LGBTQ) when discussing scholarship or organizations focused on a specific subset of these identities.

  3. We use the phrase, “criminal processing system,” rather than “criminal justice system,” to convey the lack of justice in our legal system—a system designed to punish those we label “criminal” rather than heal and transform communities.

  4. Upon switching to an autoethnographic study, we started by using the interview-based data we had assembled originally to create a framework and then each of us added our own experiences. Author order was agreed upon based on individual time spent on this article.

  5. We use these terms to group together the four authors, who identify more toward the “center” or the “masculine end” of the gender spectrum. We also use this term to denote that our experiences are different from transfeminine individuals, who are subject to transmisogyny on top of transphobia.

  6. Throughout this article, we capitalize “Black,” but not “white,” following the example of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) communities. This choice is, in part, to recognize a shared history of discrimination experienced by Black individuals, which is not shared by white people.

  7. While different people’s usage of multiple pronouns can vary, Ash and Brodie use different pronouns throughout this article to refer to themselves. As they are comfortable with both pronouns and they use them interchangeably.

  8. In order not to inflate the citation count of transphobic work, we have decided not to cite examples. For those curious about work regarding transphobic views, however, a search for the term “gender critical” will provide plenty, including a lengthy 2020 article in Feminist Criminology.

  9. A Unit Coordinator is an academic leader in Australian universities responsible for the development of an individual learning and teaching unit and overseeing its delivery, including coordinating teaching staff for the unit. Depending on the size of the unit, they may also be the unit’s Lecturer.

  10. An honor’s degree is a one- or two-year research program in Australia, usually representing the highest level of training in an undergraduate degree. It is also often considered postgraduate, as it is obtained as a separate qualification to the pass degree (Graduate Careers Australia 2016).

  11. Further complicating this issue, research produced by people with marginalized identities about people with marginalized identities is often trivialized, considered self-serving and dismissed as “mesearch,” (e.g., Buchanan 2020). We, too, have heard this feedback and we have found ourselves being required to justify engaging in this work.

References

  • Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amnesty International. (2020). From margin to center: Sex work decriminalization is a racial justice issue. December 12. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from https://www.amnestyusa.org/from-margin-to-center-sex-work-decriminalization-is-a-racial-justice-issue/.

  • Baez, B. (2000). Race-related service and faculty of color: Conceptualizing critical agency in academe. Higher Education, 39(3), 363–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, M. (2010) “They aren’t talking about me ...” The Crunk Feminist Collective. [Blog]. Retrieved on May 10, 2020, from http://www.crunkfeministcollective.com/2010/03/14/they-arent-talking-about-me/.

  • Bernard, H.R. (2018) Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 6th Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littleford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, N. T. (2020). Researching while Black (and female). Women & Therapy, 43(1–2), 91-111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buist, C.L., & Stone, C. (2014). Transgender victims and offenders: Failures of the United States criminal justice system and the necessity of queer criminology. Critical Criminology: An International Journal, 22(1), 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-013-9224-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, K.D. (2005). “Ain’t no faggot gonna rob me!”: Anti-gay attitudes of criminal justice undergraduate majors. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 16(2), 226–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Case, K. (Ed.) (2013). Deconstructing privilege: Teaching and learning as allies in the classroom. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catalano, D. C. J. (2015). “Trans enough?” The pressures trans men negotiate in higher education. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 2(3), 411–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chávez, K., & Mitchell, K. M. (2020). Exploring bias in student evaluations: Gender, race and ethnicity. PS: Political Science & Politics, 53(2), 270–274.

  • Cvetkovich, A. (2012). Depression: A public feeling. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dados, N., & Connell, R. (2012). The global south. Contexts, 11(1), 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeVita, J., & Anders, A. (2018). LGTQ faculty and professional in higher education: Defining allies, identifying support. College Student Affairs Journal, 36(2), 63–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dispenza, F., Watson, L.B., Chung, Y.B., & G. Brack. (2012). Experience of career-related discrimination for female-to-male transgender persons: A qualitative study. The Career Development Quarterly, 60(1), 65–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellingson, L. & Ellis, C. (2008). Autoethnography as constructionist project. In Holstein, J. & Gubrium, J. (Eds.), Handbook of Constructionist Research (pp. 445–465). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, C. & Bochner, A. P. (2000). Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity. In Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 733–768). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, J. (2012). Autoethnography. In Gadd, D., Karstedt, S., & Messner, S.F. (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Criminological Research (pp. 218–230). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, J. and M.S. Hamm (eds.) (1998). Ethnography at the edge: Crime, deviance and field research. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garvey, J.C., & Rankin, S.R. (2015). The influence of campus experiences on the level of outness among trans-spectrum and queer-spectrum students. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(3), 374–393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gehi, P. (2012). Gendered (in) security: Migration and Criminalization in the Security State. Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, 35(2), 357–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, A.E., Kuvalanka, K., & l. dickey. (2019). Transgender graduate students’ experiences in higher education: A mixed-methods exploratory study. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 12(1), 38–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graduate Careers Australia. (2016). Postgraduate Study. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/files/careerplanningandresources/postgraduatestudy/.

  • Hames-Garcia, M. (2009). Dilemmas of a Queer Activist-Scholar of Color. In Sudbury, J. & Okazawa-Rey, M. (Eds.), Activist Scholarship: Antiracism, Feminism and Social Change (pp. 189–203). Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayano, D. M. (1979). Auto-ethnography: Paradigms, problems and prospects. Human Organization, 38(1), 99–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Campaign Foundation. (2016). Transgender inclusion in the workplace: A toolkit for employers. Retrieved on February 10, 2021, from https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/professional-resources/trans-toolkit-for-employers.

  • James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality. Retrieved on February 27, 2021, from https://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/USTS-Full-Report-FINAL.PDF.

  • Jones, T., Dune, T., Hawkes, G., Bolger, A. D. P. D., & Hawkes, G. (2015). Female-to-male (ftm) transgender people’s experiences in Australia: A national study. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Key, A., & May, M. S. (2019). When prisoners dare to become scholars: prison education as resistance. Review of Communication, 1, 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelman, T. & Autar, S. (2018). Family Court of Australia rules transgender young people no longer need to apply to the Court to surgery. Re: Matthew [2018] FamCA 161 (16 March 2018). Human Rights Law Centre. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from https://www.hrlc.org.au/human-rights-case-summaries/2018/4/11/family-court-of-australia-confirms-surgery-for-transgender-teenagers-is-therapeutic.

  • Kerry, S. (2018). Trans dilemmas: Living in Australia’s remote areas and in aboriginal communities. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lombardi, E. L., Wilchins, R. A., Priesing, D., & Malouf, D. (2002). Gender violence: Transgender experiences with violence and discrimination. Journal of Homosexuality, 42(1), 89–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan, G. (2018). Shawnee State professor suing school over religious rights regarding gender identity. WCHS Eyewitness News, November 13. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from https://wchstv.com/news/local/shawnee-state-professor-suing-school-over-religious-rights-regarding-gender-identity.

  • Miller, H.A. & Kim, B. (2012). Curriculum implications of anti-gay attitudes among undergraduate criminal justice majors. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 23(2), 148–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Misra, J., Lundquist, J. H., Holmes, E., & Agiomavritis, S. (2011). The ivory ceiling of service work. Academe, 97(1), 22–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizock, L., Riley, J., Yuen, N., Woodrum, T.D., Sotilleo, E.A., & Ormerod, A. J. (2018). Transphobia in the workplace: A qualitative study of employment stigma. Stigma and Health, 3(3), 275–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, M. (2016). Pushout: The criminalization of Black girls in schools. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Movement Advancement Project. (2016). The facts: Bathroom safety, nondiscrimination laws and bathroom ban laws. July. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from http://www.lgbtmap.org/file/bathroom-ban-laws.pdf.

  • Muhammad, K. G. (2019). The condemnation of blackness: Race, crime and the making of modern urban America. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Transgender Equality (2020). Press Release: South Dakota bill threatens doctors with prison for helping transgender youth. January 16. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from https://transequality.org/press/releases/south-dakota-bill-threatens-doctors-with-prison-for-helping-transgender-youth.

  • National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality. (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the national transgender discrimination survey. Retrieved on February 5, 2021, from https://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf.

  • Newbold, G., Ian Ross, J., Jones, R. S., Richards, S. C., & Lenza, M. (2014). Prison research from the inside: The role of convict autoethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 20(4), 439–448.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panfil, V. R. (2018). Young and unafraid: queer criminology’s unbounded potential. Palgrave Communications, 4(1), 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paoline, E. A., & Sloan, J. J. (2003). Variability in the organizational structure of contemporary campus law enforcement agencies. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 26(4), 612–639.

  • Phoenix, N., & Ghul, R. (2016). Gender transition in the workplace: An occupational therapy perspective. Work, 55(1), 197–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seelman, K.L. (2014). Recommendations of transgender students, staff and faculty in the USA for improving college campuses. Gender and Education, 26(6), 618–635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smee, B. (2019). University of Queensland academics sign open letter after law dean's trans comments. The Guardian, September 18. Retrieved on February 5, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/18/university-of-queensland-academics-sign-open-letter-countering-law-deans-trans-comments.

  • Smith, D. & Redden, M. (2017) Trump administration rescinds Obama-era protections for transgender students. The Guardian, February 23. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/22/transgender-students-bathroom-trump-obama.

  • Spade, D. (2015). Normal life: Administrative violence, critical trans politics, & the limits of law. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stotzer, R.L. (2009). Violence against transgender people: A review of United States data. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 14(3), 170–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stotzer, R.L. (2014). Bias crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity: Global prevalence, impacts and causes. In Peterson, D. & Panfil, V.R. (Eds.), Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime and Justice (pp. 45–64). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, J. (2011). An ethnographic account of doing survey research in prison: Descriptions, reflections and suggestions from the field. Qualitative Sociology Review, 7(2), 45–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Telfer, M., Tollit, M., & Feldman, D. (2015). Transformation of health-care and legal systems for the transgender population: The need for change in Australia. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 51(11), 1051–1053.

    Google Scholar 

  • Testa, R. J., Sciacca, L. M., Wang, F., Hendricks, M. L., Goldblum, P., Bradford, J., & Bongar, B. (2012). Effects of violence on transgender people. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 43(5), 452–459. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029604.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tierney, W.G. (1997). Academic outlaws: Queer theory and cultural studies in the academy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tietjen, G., Burnett, J., & Jessie, B. O. (2020). Onward and Upward: The Significance of Mentorship for Formerly Incarcerated Students and Academics. Critical Criminology: An International Journal, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-020-09507-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Totenberg, N. (2020). Supreme Court Delivers Major Victory To LGBTQ Employees. National Public Radio (NPR), June 20. Retrieved on February 10, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/863498848/supreme-court-delivers-major-victory-to-lgbtq-employees.

  • Trudy. (2014). Explanation of Misogynoir. Gradient Lair, April 28. Retrieved on May 10, 2020, from https://www.gradientlair.com/post/84107309247/define-misogynoir-anti-black-misogyny-moya-bailey-coined.

  • Stock, K., et al. (2018). Academics are being harassed over their research into transgender issues. The Guardian, October 16. Retrieved on February 10, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/16/academics-are-being-harassed-over-their-research-into-transgender-issues.

  • Trans Respect Versus Transphobia Worldwide. (2019). TMM Update Trans Day of Remembrance 2019. November 11. Retrieved on January 30, 2021, from https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-trans-day-of-remembrance-2019/.

  • Walker, A., Sexton, L., Valcore, J. L., Sumner, J., & Wodda, A. (2018). Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals. In C. Roberson (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Social, Economic and Criminal Justice (pp. 220–233). Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, M. L. (2016). Race making in a penal institution. American Journal of Sociology, 121(4), 1051–1078.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wareham, J. (2019). Murdered, Hanged And Lynched: 331 Trans People Killed This Year. Forbes, November 18. Retrieved on February 10, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiewareham/2019/11/18/murdered-hanged-and-lynched-331-trans-people-killed-this-year/#44c9aabf2d48.

  • Wurth, M. H., Schleifer, R., McLemore, M., Todrys, K. W., & Amon, J. J. (2013). Condoms as evidence of prostitution in the United States and the criminalization of sex work. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 16(1), 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the organizers and attendees of the “Centering the Margins: Addressing the Implementation Gap of Critical Criminology” conference held in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at Eastern Michigan University, for providing an outlet for and feedback on the presentation that led to this article. Thanks especially to Rita Shah. The authors would also like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Batten Arts and Letters #6004, Old Dominion University, 4401 Hampton Blvd, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Allyn Walker

  2. University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX, USA

    Jace Valcore

  3. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Brodie Evans

  4. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ash Stephens

Authors
  1. Allyn Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jace Valcore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Brodie Evans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ash Stephens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Allyn Walker.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Walker, A., Valcore, J., Evans, B. et al. Experiences of Trans Scholars in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Crit Crim 29, 37–56 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-021-09561-5

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-021-09561-5