Visions and visibility: gender, crime and difference

This essay deals with images and imaginations of gender in relation to surveillance practices and, therefore, criminalisation. Within these, it looks to identify preconceptions, perceptions and interpretations towards and against women and men, particularly in terms of their difference(s). It also addresses social constructions, gender (re)productions and cultural norms, according to those differences. The essay deals with the main aspects of relevant discourses by referring to, and analysing the literature within, the topics of surveillance, crime and gender. It attempts to question the relationships between these three and to investigate them as they occur within a “natural environment”. Indeed, the essay reports on an empirical, observation-based project, which involves referring to the words and impressions of those employed in the sphere of (potential) criminal surveillance and the (re)creation of (male) criminality. As such, this contribution endeavours to debate criminological gender difference(s), both in surveillance theory and practice.