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7 Women & Crim. Just. 1 (1995-1996)

handle is hein.journals/wwcj7 and id is 1 raw text is: Opening the Dialogue: Women's Culture and the Criminal Justice System Frances P Bernat ABSTRACT. This article serves as an introduction to this special issue on women's culture and the criminal justice system. It is intended to explain why and how a discussion of the intersection of race, class and gender must be incorporated into our justice system inquiries. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678.] The study of the intersection of race, class and gender is one of contemporary concern. For the most part, criminological theories, research and analysis have focused on the study of crime com- mitted by males. When race, ethnicity and class are discussed, issues of crime, racism and state power are usually analyzed as they pertain to Black and Hispanic males. Absent from the normal discourse on crime and justice is the issue of gender. Too often, if gender is discussed it is considered a tangential variable in which the effects of gender are assumed to pertain to all women. Conse- quently, research that contains a gender variable presumes that women are a homogenous group. It is assumed that we can isolate a gender variable and import meaning to it without further inquiry about the women and the cultural milieu from which these women originate. The study of women, crime, and justice issues necessitates an Frances P. Bernat, Associate Professor, Administration of Justice, Arizona State University West, Phoenix, AZ 85069-7100. Women & Criminal Justice, Vol. 7(1) 1995 © 1995 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 1