Comprehensive Study of Female Offenders: Life Before, During, and After Incarceration

• NCJ Number: 225542
• Author(s): Martin Guevara Urbina Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 293 pages
• Sale Source: Charles C. Thomas
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Overview Text
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This book provides an in-depth perspective of the simultaneous interaction of historical, structural, religious, cultural, political, and ideological factors that shape and reshape the experiences of women before, during, and after their incarceration.

Abstract

While the existing literature in the area of corrections is extensive, the experiences of incarcerated women are by far less-studied and less-known, and thus certain research areas deserve further examination. A central objective of this book is to provide a balance to the existing literature and research on United States inmates, focusing primarily on female offenders, using the Wisconsin Department of Corrections as an illustration. The book provides a comprehensive account of adult women in prison, paying particular attention to the experiences of female offenders before, during, and after their incarceration. The book is structured into 10 chapters, each of which corresponds to a different body of historical, theoretical, and empirical work on female offenders and their subsequent incarceration. The experience of Wisconsin female inmates suggests that future investigations must consider not only life before, during, and after incarceration, but that the experience of female offenders must be analyzed by the totality of issues, events, and circumstances, which tend to shape and reshape final outcomes in and outside the prison system. The book concludes by pointing to a new approach of female imprisonment in the United States that is sensitive to the interweaving historical and modern forces that extend beyond race, ethnicity, gender, class, culture, and borders. Recommendations are presented with the objective of developing and implementing a strategic plan that will reduce differential treatment, prejudice, fear, brutality, negligence, and isolation. Ultimately, the correctional system must be restructured so that it will be able to properly and ethically function, cope, and rehabilitate a vulnerable segment of society. Tables, epilogue, notes, references, and index