NCJ Number
140500
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: (Autumn 1992) Pages: 235- 257
Date Published
1992
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Focusing on women who were confined in the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma between 1876 and 1909, this article discusses the experiences of women imprisoned in Western States during the late 19th Century, describes the racial and ethnic diversity of the female inmate population, and examines the treatment these women prisoners received from male prison officials.
Abstract
While only a small number of women were imprisoned in the Western States and territories during the reporting period, their nature of their confinement suggests some interesting conclusions about the imprisonment of women and imprisonment in general. Female offenders in the West served time in men's prisons as the women's reformatory movement was still confined to the East. Gender-based expectations of women's behavior resulted in a high proportion of women convicted for crimes against morality; the number of black women convicts was also disproportionately high, due to current beliefs about race and ethnicity. As a result, women offenders usually had more in common with men of the same ethnic group than with women of different ethnic groups. Arizona women inmates experienced what the author terms "partial justice"; although they were not required to participate in the regular regimen in terms of regulations, work, or punishment, they lacked adequate facilities and privacy and were often victimized. This author also examined the role of the "bad woman" image in the origins of women's reformatories in the United States. 10 notes and 108 references