Why Messerschmidt rejects Jefferson's thesis on a male criminal behaviour analysis
Added on 2020-03-04
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Complete multiple-choice question based on the required readings and explain your answer within 100-150 words. 1. In Chapter One ‘Theory’ fromCrime as Structured Action: Doing Masculinities, Race, Class, Sexuality and Crime(2013), James W. Messerschmidt critiques Jefferson’s psycho-social analysis of male criminal behaviour. Which of the answers below best captures why Messerschmidt rejects Jefferson’s thesis?Select one: a. Violence is not always a result of men’s experience of anxious-powerlessness, nor should masculinity only matter in crimes where violence occurs between men b. Jefferson’s psycho-social analysis of crime doesn’t assume that men’s experience of anxious-powerlessness is the root cause of all male crime, just violent crime.Explanation: This criticism emerges from the fact that, there is actually scant discussion of gendered power relations in Jefferson’s theory. Moreover, it has been observed that the phenomenon of intersection of power with race, class, sexuality, and crime has not been elaborated understandably in Jefferson’s theory. It is primarily due to this lack of focus on power that Jefferson has diminished power’s importance and has argued that social meaning is the outcome of available discourses and notof social structures (based on power differences). Moreover, as Jefferson has assumed that social structures are bound to disappear into a plethoraof discourses; the meaning, importance, and essence of power has been lost. Hence, Jefferson’s theory can be criticized from the perspective of undermining the potential of power relations. c. Jefferson’s reification of gender as it relates to violence is acceptable, however his failure to look at a diversity of criminal behaviours and genders is not. d. Criminal masculinity is discussed by Jefferson not only as it relates to men, but also in relation to women and girls. 2. Meda Chesney-Lind’s 2006 article ‘Patriarchy, Crime, and Justice: Feminist Criminology in an Era of Backlash,’ discusses the masculinisationtheory of crime which argues that the equal rights gained by women through feminism will now allow women equal access to criminal behaviours once dominated by men, for example violent crime. Which answer best represents Chesney-Lind’s view on the ‘masculinisation theory’ of crime?Select one:a. Masculinsation theory is problematic for its reification of gender.
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