Gender, Streetlife and Criminal Retaliation*

Abstract

Recent work in criminology has highlighted the central role of retaliation in shaping criminal violence in America's inner cities. Most of this work, however, has been based on male offenders. It has also failed to consider whether and how gender structures payback in reallife settings and circumstances. In this paper, we analyze in-depth, semistructured interviews with forty men and twelve women who recently engaged in one or more episodes of retaliatory violence to examine the ways in which gender shapes vengeance. W e hope to provide an insider's view of how gender frames the context and dynamics of retaliatory events for both men and women.

Women and Crime in Context

“…6 Feminist Criminology Deschenes, 2003;Fagan, 1994;Kakar, Friedemann, & Peck, 2002;Koons-Witt & Schram, 2003;Kruttschnitt & Carbone-Lopez, 2006;Maher, 1997;Miller, 1998;Mullins, Wright, & Jacobs, 2004).…”

Gender and the social costs of claiming value: An experimental approach

“…30 Men are also more willing than women to punish unfair behavior in the field: they are more supportive of capital punishment, whereas women are more supportive of measures to prevent crime and rehabilitate criminals (Applegate et al, 2002;Hurwitz and Smithey, 1998). They are also more likely than women to retaliate against the wrongdoings of others in urban street life (Mullins et al, 2004).…”

Gender-Specific Conflicts among Urban African-American Youth: The Roles of Situational Context and Issues of Contention

“…Violent incidents involving weapons are more common among young men compared to young women, including those residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Males are more likely to report carrying weapons for security and protection than are females, and are much more likely to carry and use firearms than are women, contributing to the greater lethality of male violence (Koons-Wit and Schram 2003;Mullins, Wright, and Jacobs 2004;Smith and Sheley 1995). Females, on the other hand, are less like to utilize weapons during disputes (Miller 1998); however, when they do, they are more likely to use knives than guns (Lockwood 1997;Mullins and Miller 2008).…”