Abstract
In patriarchal society where women’s equality is not forthcoming, women are stigmatised on a daily basis for deviating from socially constructed gender norms when they resist or fail in their roles as mothers, daughters and partners. Furthermore, it is noted that stigma occurs when a person does not conform to desired socially constructed roles. When women are seen as offenders, not only have many of them resisted gender norms but they have also violated moral and legal norms. Ideas around identity change (particularly surrounding women’s relational identities) are also explored in this chapter. Criminalised women are often constructed as falling within the offender/victim/survivor trichotomy. This chapter will contend that this is problematic. When women self-identify as offenders or ex-offenders, this can result in either a self-fulfilling prophecy or a positive move towards desistance, depending on the availability of alternative meaning structures. When women are socially identified as offenders, the result tends to be the former. Yet when women are constructed solely as victims, their agency disappears.
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Notes
- 1.
For more on Katie and Heathers’ experiences see the next chapter.
- 2.
Heather’s sister attempted suicide the weekend prior to our interview whilst she was staying at Heather’s house.
- 3.
Macmillan Cancer Support who provide support and advice for individuals who have cancer in prison.
- 4.
It is worth remembering that Heather in particular denied any awareness that ‘ticking the wrong box’ was morally or legally ‘wrong’.
- 5.
During the first interview, Julie had mentioned a statement from the council in the local press and advised me to look this up. Upon doing so, I came across another article which suggested Julie’s involvement in an arson attack in 1999. The article suggested Julie had set fire to the car of the boyfriend of a teenage girl she had become ‘obsessed with’ through some voluntary work. The article also suggested Julie had mental health issues and problems with alcohol. When I brought the incident up, Julie accepted this was herself. ‘I still to this day do not remember. I underwent treatment at X rehab centre and it was apparently an attempt on somebody’s car. But I … I don’t know, I was told I was lucky that I hadn’t killed myself.’ This revelation also indicated that Julie was becoming more comfortable with our relationship and the trust between us had grown. Julie’s story also indicated the importance of multiple meetings as part of a research methodology.
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Barr, Ú. (2019). All in the Head? A Feminist Critique of Subjective Theory. In: Desisting Sisters. Critical Criminological Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14276-6_5
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