Freda Adler
Dr. Freda Adler is currently Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University. She was President of the American Criminological Society for the 1994-1995. She has acted as a consultant to the United Nations on criminal justice matters since 1975 and has held numerous roles within United Nations organizations. A prolific writer, Dr. Adler has published in a variety of criminological areas, including female criminality, international issues in crime, drug abuse, and social control theories.
Education
Dr. Freda Adler received her BA in sociology, her MA in criminology, and her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Adler began her career in criminal justice as an evaluator of drug and alcohol treatment programs for federal and state governments. For several decades she has taught subjects such as criminal justice, criminology, comparative criminal justice systems, statistics, and research methods.
Publications
Dr. Adler’s published works include 13 books as author or co-author, 9 books as editor or co-editor, and over 100 journal articles. She is the recipient of the Beccaria Medal in Gold of the Deutche Kriminologische Gesellschaft (representing Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland), the Chi Omega Sociology Award, the American Society of Criminology International Division Award, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Founder’s Award.
Rise to Prominence
Dr. Adler first gained prominence in 1975 by articulating a controversial theory (known generally as the Liberation Theory of Female Criminality) in which she predicted rising crime rates for women as a result of the success of the women’s liberation movement. In other words, according to this theory the feministist social movement had increased women’s opportunities, and thirst, for crime. From a criminological viewpoint, Dr. Adler’s thesis strongly contradicted the pathological explanations of female criminality prevalent in the preceding century.
Source
Department of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania
See also
- Gender and Crime
- Female Juvenile Offenders
- Liberation Theory of Female Criminality
External Links
- Gender and Crime Bibliography
- Gender, Crime and Desistance: Toward a Theory of Cognitive Transformation
- Criminological Theory Summaries
- Negotiated Order: Gender, Youth Transitions and Crime