The Politics of Criminalization: Examining the Complex Legacy of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act
Graduation Year
2024
Date of Submission
4-2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Government
Reader 1
Dr. Dionne Bensonsmith
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 Genevieve McCloy
Abstract
This thesis explores the interconnected issues of violence against women, patriarchy, and criminalization to understand the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and the factors that shaped it. Using Johns Kingond’s multiple streams framework, this paper investigates how the Act was constructed by the battered women’s movement and the United States’ shift towards tough-on-crime policies. Ultimately, this paper seeks to understand how the issue of domestic violence became rooted in criminalization and if that framework has helped deter violence against women in the United States or if it caused more problems than it solved.
Recommended Citation
McCloy, Genevieve, "The Politics of Criminalization: Examining the Complex Legacy of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act" (2024). CMC Senior Theses. 3621.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3621
