Book Review: Martin, S. E., & Jurik, N. C. (2007). Doing Justice, Doing Gender (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 281

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310668
• Published date: 01 December 2007
• Date: 01 December 2007
• Author: Sue Carter Collins
• Subject Matter: Articles

Martin, S. E., & Jurik, N. C. (2007). Doing Justice, Doing Gender

(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 281

DOI: 10.1177/0734016807310668

Doing Justice, Doing Gender provides a theoretically grounded overview of the gendered

changes affecting women that have occurred in criminal justice organizations and occupations

(police, law, and corrections) within the past 40 years, with particular emphasis on changes

occurring in the past decade. Martin and Jurik attempt to answer five questions: (a) How

have the roles of women in criminal justice and legal occupations changed over time and

how are these changes connected to changes in the larger society and occupational sphere?

(b) What barriers have women encountered in their efforts to enter and gain equality in

these fields? (c) How have women performed and how have they dealt with work-related

barriers? (d) What has been the overall impact of women’s contributions to society and to the

criminal justice system? (e) What barriers and challenges will women in these occupations

likely face in the future?

The authors hypothesize that the gendered division of labor in the criminal justice system

is a part of the larger system of social differentiation that occurs in society and results in

unequal status, evaluations, and rewards. They argue that these differences are manifested

simultaneously and along diverse dimensions including class, race, ethnicity,religion, and sexual

orientation. They suggest that the accomplishment of these differences is directly related to

the production of social inequality, which shapes individuals, locations, and organizations.

Doing Justice, Doing Gender is the second edition of an earlier work by the same title.

The revised version retains the organizational structure and theoretical perspective of the first

edition and provides a conceptual framework for understanding women’s experiences and

contributions in policing, law, and corrections. The authors identify gendered trends and

issues within each occupation and emphasize common themes across occupations. Where

information is available the authors include an international perspective of women in each

occupation.

The book is organized into nine chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide a contextual foundation

for the authors’ research, chapters 3 through 8 form the heart of the analysis, and chapter 9

contains an integrated conclusion reiterating key points from the prior chapters and suggesting

new directions in feminist research and organizational policy. Each occupation—police,

law, and corrections—is discussed in two chapters.

Chapter 1 provides an historical overview of women’s roles in criminal justice occupations.

Beginning with women’s entry into the public sector in the 19th century, the authors describe

women’s efforts to obtain equal access to and expanded employment opportunities in the

criminal justice system. The authors identify the legal trends that facilitated women’s

achievements including equal employment opportunity laws, sexual harassment law, and

the laws regulating pregnancy and family leave. The chapter concludes with the assessment

that continued opposition to women in criminal justice occupations is directly related to

prevailing social conditions and the ways those conditions shape the climate of criminal

justice organizations. As such, women continue to experience significant barriers in employ-

ment that are seemingly gender neutral but that result in discriminatory differentiation and

subordination of women in all aspects of the criminal justice field.

480 Criminal Justice Review