Gender, Psychology, and Justice: The Mental Health of Women and Girls in the Legal System

Description:

Reveals how gender intersects with race, class, and sexual orientation in ways that impact the legal status and well-being of women and girls in the justice system.

Women and girls' contact with the justice system is often influenced by gender-related assumptions and stereotypes. The justice practices of the past 40 years have been largely based on conceptual principles and assumptions--including personal theories about gender--more than scientific evidence about what works to address the specific needs of women and girls in the justice system. Because of this, women and girls have limited access to equitable justice and are increasingly caught up in outdated and harmful practices, including the net of the criminal justice system.

Gender, Psychology, and Justice uses psychological research to examine the experiences of women and girls involved in the justice system. Their experiences, from initial contact with justice and court officials, demonstrate how gender intersects with race, class, and sexual orientation to impact legal status and well-being. The volume also explains the role psychology can play in shaping legal policy, ranging from the areas of corrections to family court and drug court.

Gender, Psychology, and Justice provides a critical analysis of girls' and women's experiences in the justice system. It reveals the practical implications of training and interventions grounded in psychological research, and suggests new principles for working with women and girls in legal settings.

Brief description: Corinne C. Datchi is Assistant Professor in the Professional Psychology and Family Therapy Department at Seton Hall University, and a board certified, licensed psychologist in independent private practice. Gender and the family are the focus of her research and practice with criminal justice populations.

Review Quotes: "After reading Julie Ancis and Corinne Datchis groundbreaking book Gender, Psychology and Justice, one realizes that many diverse women and girls, who are disproportionately in poverty and have experienced gender violence, are re-traumatized by laws, justice policies, and the social biases of legal officials of the U.S. Justice System. Victim-blaming and mistreatment of women and girls are unfortunately prevalent in our country, which has led President Obama to say that 'you can judge a nation, and how successful it will be, based on how it treats its women and its girls.' This book is an eye opener for men on the many injustices facing diverse women and girls and serves as a clarion call that social justice work on behalf of diverse women and girls is a moral and ethical mandate."--Kevin Cokley, Director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research, University of Texas at Austin