Battle Cries. Hillary Potter
theory is positioned within the “matrix of domination,” as opposed to being dissociated from sociostructural truths.25
Numerous Black feminist and critical race feminist scholars have addressed the “intersecting oppressions” of Black women. In the classic 1970 article “Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female,” Frances Beale, a journalist and civil rights activist, wrote of the burden of the Black woman’s disadvantaged status, which is based on gender, race, and class.26 Vivian V. Gordon’s analysis identified these three conditions as Black women’s “trilogy of oppression,” and she stated that Black women are often confronted with determining which form of oppression is most important.27 Deborah K. King advocated for the term “multiple jeopardy” to describe Black women’s oppression, given that Black women often undergo even more than three forms of subjugation and that these categories of oppression affect Black women simultaneously.28 Wing, who used the term “multiplicative identity” to capture the identity of women of color, argues that “women of color are not merely White women plus color or men of color plus gender. Instead, their identities must be multiplied together to create a holistic One when analyzing the nature of the discrimination against them.”29
Intimate partner abuse has been considered by many Black feminist scholars, even if only in a portion of their work.30 Although still in its youthful stage, critical race feminist theory has been specifically applied to intimate partner abuse in the lives of women of color.31 Considering issues of both identity intersectionality and intimate partner abuse, Beth E. Richie argues, “We now have data that supports [sic] the existence of racial and ethnic differences in rates but a theoretical orientation and public policy that can’t accommodate or make sense of this new understanding.”32 The use of Black feminist theory and critical race feminist theory as foundations in considering the issues with intimate partner abuse against Black women, as well as considering battered Black women’s involvement in “criminal behavior,” will assist in addressing this limitation and contribute to the development of Black feminist criminology. The labeling of a Black feminist criminology brings attention to the need to simultaneously consider several levels of social interaction that affect an individual’s responses to crime and violence.
Black feminist criminology incorporates the tenets of interconnected identities, interconnected social forces, and distinct circumstances to better theorize, conduct research, and inform policy regarding criminal behavior and victimization among Blacks. The interconnected identities to be considered among Black individuals include race and/or ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class status, national origin, and religion. Certainly, this is not a comprehensive list, as this precept allows for other identities to be included according to how an individual self-identifies. In U.S. society’s stratified composition, occurrences of inequity are often experienced because of the spectrum of diversity within each identity and the intolerance and ignorance among some members of society. As such, various identities are seen as of less value than others. This devaluation affects how certain individuals maneuver through life, including how they respond to events and opportunities with which they are confronted. Starting from this vantage point can help us begin to improve our explanations for the experiences of battered Black women’s entry into abusive relationships, their responses to their abusers, and their use of systemic resources to help them withdraw from the relationships.
These interconnected identities are greatly shaped by larger social forces. Specifically, groups of individuals and society at large produce and perpetuate conflict, competition, and differences in merit among the members of society. It is not battered Black women’s identities that exclusively form their perceptions and reactions but the treatment of these identities filtered by (a) the impact of the social structure through (b) the community or culture to (c) familial and intimate exchanges. Nevertheless, this does not necessitate a linear association in every case; instead, it serves to demonstrate that a patriarchal, paternalistic, and racialized social structure affects all other institutions and interactions in society. Black women’s reactions to abuse are affected by their “place” in society because of their intersecting identities. Being at the least valued end of the spectrum for both race and gender places these women in a peculiar position not faced by Black men or White women (although Black men and White women are indeed challenged by their relative and respective dominating forces). In a similar manner, other women of color, such as Latinas, Native American women, Asian American women, and immigrant women (of color), can easily be placed alongside Black women in this analysis.
Last, the characterization “battered woman” or “criminal offender” should not be considered an element of the identities of women victims or offenders. Being abused or having committed criminal acts is a situation that women encounter or in which women become implicated, not one that is endemic to their identity. Of course, this is not to diminish the seriousness of the victimization of women or of criminality among women; instead, it is to emphasize that the individuals themselves rarely recognize these parts of their lives as central to their identities. Furthermore, incorporating these distinct circumstances into Black women’s identities risks pathologizing Black women victims or offenders by making these events appear normal or expected among Black women.
Themes of Black Feminist Criminology
As mentioned earlier, the four themes considered within Black feminist criminology include social structural oppression, interactions within the Black community, intimate and familial relations, and the Black woman as an individual, all under the premise that these segments are interconnected. Use of this framework allows us to make the connection between woman battering and structural, cultural, and familial restraints. Under the theme of social structural oppression, matters of institutional racism, damaging stereotypical images, sexism, and classism are routinely addressed by Black feminists and critical race feminists and incorporated for analysis. Included in the examination is the limited access to adequate education and employment as consequences of racism, sexism, and classism.
The second theme addressed by Black feminist criminology, the interactions within the Black community, is based on the cultural distinctions of Blacks. The nature of relationships among Blacks is a topic scrupulously discussed by critical race and Black feminists. These discussions often include the impact of historical experiences of Blacks in the United States. Some specific subjects addressed by Black feminists (although this is not an exhaustive list) include issues of Black women’s and Black men’s roles in the Black community, the occurrence of violence within the Black community, and the role of spirituality and the Black church as a staple institution in the Black community. Such a concentration allows for each of these features to be considered in how it affects Black women’s encounters with intimate partner abuse.
The theme of intimate and familial relationships is the third area on which Black feminist criminology concentrates. The family of origin and generational characteristics of the Black family are among the foci here, including the embeddedness in othermothers33 and family members outside the immediate family unit (the extended family). Last, the theme of Black women as individuals is examined in Black feminist criminology. Although the Black woman is studied as an individual, her life as a Black woman is strongly connected to her location, status, and role in the social structure, the Black community, and interpersonal relationships. Within this category, issues such as mental health, sexual health, and sexuality are addressed. Inclusion of this precept allows a personal yet comprehensive view of battered Black women.
Some criticism of Black feminist criminology can be foreseen. To start, this theoretical contribution may be viewed as being too limiting because the examination expounded here is grounded in Black and critical race feminist theories and focuses on Black women specifically. The claim might be made that this approach does not serve an overarching benefit as we seek ways to respond to and prevent intimate partner abuse. A rejoinder to this potential criticism would rationalize that because Black women are estimated to be victims of abuse at higher rates than White women, it is imperative that we make greater efforts to understand and determine how to address this concern. In addition, because Black women are also overrepresented in areas of the criminal justice system as offenders (number of arrests, incarceration, and so on), a new approach for comprehending this trend should be welcomed. For both victim and offender status among Black women,