Predators: The social construction of "stranger-danger" in Washington State as a form of patriarchal ideology

The article critically examines Washington State's Predator Law (1990). The most controversial part of the law provides for the indefmite civil commitment of "sexually violent predators." Under the legislation. husbands who victimize their wives and children cannot be defined as predators. I argue that the social construction of predators as sick strangers is an ideological construct. This non-conspiratorial construct diverts attention from the fact that male intrafamilial violence is by far the greatest threat to the safety of women and children. These diversionary tendencies in the predator discourse constitute a hitherto scarcely publicized backlash against feminist arguments about the need for criminal laws that work in the interests of all women and children. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678.].