Intersectionality and Criminology: Disrupting and revolutionizing studies of crime

The use of intersectionality theory in the social sciences has proliferated in the past several years, putting forward the argument that the interconnected identities of individuals, and the way these identities are perceived and responded to by others, must be a necessary part of any analysis. Fundamentally, intersectionality claims that not only are people's lived experiences affected by their racial identity and by their gender identity, but that these identities, and others, continually operate together and affect each other.

With "official" statistical data that indicate people of Color have higher offending and victimization rates than White people, and with the overrepresentation of men and people of Color in the criminal legal system, new theories are required that address these phenomena and that are devoid of stereotypical or debasing underpinnings.

Intersectionality and Criminology provides a comprehensive review of the need for, and use of, intersectionality in the study of crime, criminality, and the criminal legal system. This is essential reading for academics and students researching and studying in the fields of crime, criminal justice, theoretical criminology, and gender, race, and socioeconomic class.

Hillary Potter is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an M.A. in criminal justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York. Dr. Potter's research has focused on the intersections of race, gender, and class as they relate to crime and violence, and she is currently researching Black women's use of violence in response to abusive intimate partners; men's use of violence; and antiviolence activism in Black and Latina/o communities. Dr. Potter is the author of Battle Cries: Black Women and Intimate Partner Abuse (2008) and the editor of Racing the Storm: Racial Implications and Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina (2007).