Rape And The Connection Of Feminist Criminology And...

The term rape is defined as an ‘unlawful sexual intercourse by force, and without legal or factual consent’ by Gennaro Vito, Jeffrey Maahs and Ronald Holmes (2006) in ‘Criminology: Theory, Research and Policy’ (Vito, Maahs, and Holmes, 2006: p. 280). Rape can be in the form of the penis penetrating the vagina, oral, anal and an assault using a foreign object. However, there have been many controversies of what is rape and the use of force that is required. Several researchers, practitioners, legal jurisdiction, as well as, a few rape statutes involving coercive rape rely on the use of force as part of evidence in their definition (Vito, Maahs, and Holmes, 2006: p. 280). Rape can occur both in men and women, however, most accounts of rape indicate that majority of men are perpetrators and women are the victims. This essay will discuss the gender differences of rape victims and the connection of feminist criminology and labelling theory, and stigmatisation; as followed with case studies that are relevant with both theories. Feminist criminologists states that rape is wrong, and sometimes it is ignored, legitimised and mischaracterised. Furthermore, feminist criminologists believe that there is difference in how the crime of rape is best acknowledgeable and how rape can be prevented both legally and socially (Whisnant, 2013). Feminist criminologists suggest that there are two approaches of rape per the liberal and radical feminists. Liberal feminist’s perspectives in regardsShow MoreRelatedLimitations of theories of sociology of deviance2475 Words   |  10 PagesTheories of Deviance are limited in their ability to explain deviant acts if one adopts the view that these theories are universal. There is no universal, right or wrong theory, rather each theory provides a different perspective which only fully makes sense when set within an appropriate societal context and values framework . The functionalist theories share a common structural explanation of causes of deviance . They assume that conformity in society is achieved through the existence of norms