Campus Crime Beat: The Challenges of Doing Feminist Criminology in the Academy

Abstract

One of the persistent problems with academic life is that one is encouraged to tell the truth, whether in research, the classroom, or the department meeting. For feminists, graduate school in particular stresses the importance of meticulously documenting girls' and women's lives, which have been rendered invisible by virtually all fields. Although these days the idea of truth is contentious, in the real world in which feminist academics and feminist criminologists in particular work, real problems that women confront (like sexual harassment, discrimination, and workplace violence) continue. Documenting these problems on their own campuses is a particular burden that feminist criminologists as well as others have taken on. It produces genuine challenges in a career that relies heavily on collegiality and civility. This article reflects on the costs of telling it like it is while also considering the long-term benefits, such as they are, of bringing the feminist perspective fully into the field of criminology.