Feminism and Criminal Justice: A Historical Perspective. By Anne Logan.

Abstract

Feminism and Criminal Justice undertakes the important work of revealing the significant contribution feminist women made to the criminal justice system of England and Wales between 1920 and 1970. Criminological orthodoxy has it that feminists did not intervene in issues of crime and criminal justice until the 1970s, when they did so as part of the ‘second wave’. Logan's book is a subtle corrective to this view and demonstrates that feminist women were actively involved in campaigns related to criminal justice throughout the mid-twentieth century. As such, it not only contributes to the historiography of crime and criminal justice, but also challenges the established narrative of the development of criminology in Britain. Feminism and campaigns for criminal justice reform were intimately connected from the early twentieth century onwards. In 1907, the Penal Reform League was established in response to the imprisonment experiences of suffragette women. This later merged with the Howard League in 1921 to form the Howard League for Penal Reform, which was female dominated until the 1950s. Organizations such as the National Council of Women and the Women's Freedom League took a strong interest in criminal justice and became involved in campaigns for greater numbers of female magistrates and police. Women were also an important presence in the National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty.