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Incarcerated Women
A History of Struggles, Oppression, and Resistance in American Prisons
Editors:
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Publisher:
2017
Summary
The story of the rise of prisons and development of prison systems in the United States has been studied extensively in scholarship, but the experiences of female inmates in these institutions have not received the same attention. Historically, women incarcerated in prison, jails, and reformatories accounted for a small number of inmates across the United States. Early on, they were often held in prisons alongside men and faced neglect, exploitation, and poor living conditions. Various attempts to reform them, ranging from moral instruction and education to domestic training, faced opposition at times from state officials, prison employees, and even male prison reformers. Due to the consistent small populations and relative neglect the women often faced, their experiences in prison have been understudied. This collection of essays seeks to recapture the perspective on women’s prison experience from a range of viewpoints.
This edited collection will explore the challenges women faced as inmates, their efforts to exert agency or control over their lives and bodies, how issues of race and social class influenced experiences, and how their experiences differed from that of male inmates. Contributions extend from the early nineteenth century into the twenty-first century to provide an opportunity to examine change over time with regards to female imprisonment. Furthermore, the chapters examine numerous geographic regions, allowing for readers to analyze how place and environment shapes the inmate experience.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2017
ISBN-Print
978-1-4985-4211-1
ISBN-Online
978-1-4985-4212-8
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
186
Product type
Edited Book
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Introduction No access
Chapter One: “Secret Horrors”: Enslaved Women and Children in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, 1833–1862 No access
Chapter Two: “In the Care of the Supposed Powerful State”: Women and Children in the Virginia Penitentiary, 1800–1883 No access
Chapter Three: Letters from Inside: Prison Writings from Eastern State Penitentiary in the Nineteenth Century No access
Chapter Four: “I thought if I got a chance I would do it”: Sexual Negotiation by Black Women Convicts in Texas, 1875–1915 No access
Chapter Five: “I Beg for Your Mercy”: The Business of Black Women’s Bodies in the Carceral State, 1880s–1960s No access
Chapter Six: Discipline, Resistance, and Social Control at the Illinois State Reformatory for Women, 1930–1962 No access
Chapter Seven: Making Mothers: Teaching the Virtues of Motherhood at Westfield Reformatory, 1950s–1960s No access
Chapter Eight: “It’s a Way to Get Out of Prison”: Writing and Teaching in Women’s Prisons No access
