ABSTRACT
Though not strictly or prohibitively the case, the shared sensibilities that feminist and queer perspectives have in common with qualitative epistemologies often mean that they go hand in hand in criminology. In this chapter, we explore the relations among feminist and queer criminologies and qualitative methodologies. We begin with an overview of what we mean by feminist and queer perspectives, tracing the evolution, overlaps, and contests between these overarching frameworks. In doing so, we briefly highlight the role these perspectives have played in criminological research. Next, we consider the nexus of feminist, queer, and qualitative epistemologies and methodologies. We describe more specifically why and how so many feminist and queer criminologists find, in qualitative research, “a place for alternative values within the academy” (Doucet & Mauthner, 2006, p. 38). Finally, we illustrate how qualitative methods are put to use in practice by feminist and queer scholars. We draw from our own and from several prominent works to illuminate how qualitative data analysis furthers feminist and queer intellectual projects in criminology.
