Gender and Criminal Law

Laws regarding criminal behavior are generally defined as codified regulations that are established to regulate the behaviors of individuals within society. Laws are socially constructed by groups of individuals who hold the highest degree of power within society and thus often reflect the social values of society's elite classes. Thus, socially dominant groups possess the power to define what types of behaviors and groups of people are perceived as criminal and the negative, along with socially sanctioned ramifications for violating the legally codified ...