women in prison created for the justice institute 11/12

7/31/2019 Women in Prison created for the Justice Institute 11/12

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Women are the fastest

growing population in the criminaljustice system in the UnitedStates.


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0636

SexualAbu

se

Poverty Lacko

fh

ea

lthcare M

en

ta

lilln

ess

Trau

ma domesticv

iole

nce

emotionalviolence

phys

ica

l

low

ereducationa

lattainmnet

Teenpregna

ncy

addiction

Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the population into specimens in a zoo - obedient to our keepers, but dangerous to each other.A.D.

Race

I was abused bymy father.

At15Ihad

ababy.

Ihad todropout

ofschool.

motherhoodwashar

Ihadnosupport.

ThenIme

tRobert.

Heletusli

vewithhim

.

Ib

ecame

depend

ent;he

became

dange

rous.I

tried

tolea

ve.

Ifelt

sostupid.He

mademehelp

withhisdrugbusiness.Iwastrapped.

WhenIwas17,wegotarrested....

1.3

milli

onwomenar

e

are

victimso

fdomesticviole

nceeach

year

Vulnerable growomen who

battered by meoften afraid to c

police for fear thavictimization wi

criminalized and they might lose children. Some

they are rig

Substanc

eabu

a

race&cla

ss

Trau

m

a

la

ckof

socials

ervi

ces

Thewomensshelterwasalwaysfull.

P

Leg

is

lation

Policy, raceClass,

politics

How do womenend up in the crimi-nal justice system?Their journey oftenbegins in girlhood.Perhaps theyare born poor,or black,maybeLatino, ormaybe theyare bornto a teenmother.

Maybe they are unfortunate andexperience some form of physi-cal, sexual, or emotional abuse, orperhaps one of their parents isalready incarcerated. All of thesemake them more likely to end up asfodder for the prison industrialcomplex. We now live in a countrythat incarcerates black women atfour times the rate of their whitecounterparts. While their is arhetorical and very real desire toblame womens crimes onpersonal choices thatthey makethere is a biggerpictureto consider...How do race,class, trauma,

access to socialservices,and gendercontribute tothe growingprisonpopulation?

Women who are victims of gender entrapment experience poverty and violence in their private lives; theyareoftenpubliclypunished

bythestatefor

becomingensnared

ina

tangleofsocialconditionsoverwhichtheyhavenocontrol.

Many women begin life in vulnerable situations as girls. They findlittle support in school and the reinforcement of limiting gender roleSchools often do little to counter these negative messages and in

case of pregnant teens enforce strictattendance policies and create an unspokensocial stigma that make it easier for pregnagirls to leave schoolthen to stay. These girlscan become vulnerable tohigh rates of poverty &domestic violence.


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IlostmyparentalrightswhileIwasin

prison.

Felon

After 44 months Iwas released. I waslabeled a felon forlife.

Noonewouldhireme.Ihadnowheretolive.

I sold my body to survive on thestreets. I did drugs to survivethe trauma I endured at thehands of countless men and thepolice. No one would help me.

EventuallyI wasarrestedagainandsent backto prison.

The Adoption and

Safe FamiliesAct allows

the stateto

terminateparental

rightsif achild

has beenin foster

care15 out of

the last 22 months.

Almost 2/3 ofwomen in prison

are mothers.

Spending time in prison and/or receiving a felony convictionmakes getting a job much more dif-ficult. If women are convicted fel-ons and under community supervisionthey often have little or no accessto food stamps, public housing, orsocial services. They also receivelittle or no job training, or

training in fields that are lowpaying. This means that

making a living wage isnearly impossible. Womenwith children are espe-cially penalized. Theyoften prioritize the needfor child care andfamily reunificationover employment.

patriarchy

Viole

nce

Once women are arrested their lives are destroyed. While for some women it may be the first chance they havehad

togetaccesstohealthcare,mentalhealthservices,de

ntalcare,andsubstanceabusetreatment,theafteraffectsofprisonaredevastating&

long-lasting.

If we could divert the moneyour country is pouring into the

prison industrial complex to pro-vide more social

services to vulnerablepopulations, legislate laws toend violence against women,

support outreach services, shel-ters, counseling,

protection, and education thatwould be the beginning of turn-ing the tide in favor of a morejust and humane solution to

crime andpunishment.

Most women are incarceratedfor non-violent offenses. Com-munity treatment options, ac-cess to mental and physical

health care, substance abusecounseling, safe and depend-able child care, trauma inter-vention and treatment, and

economic support would reducerecidivism by a large marginamong women who have been

incarcerated.

WE must work toabolish prescribed gender roles,and racism. We need to recog-nize the resilience and wisdomthat women possess when they

are safe and feel likeproductive members of our

communities.Finally we need desperately tounderstand and examine the

role of racism,heternormativity, and poverty in

our current models ofpunishment and social

control. Women of color, sexualminorities, and poor people aredoubly punished by our system.If we could work to take downthe Prison Industrial Complexit would improve public safety

and make our communities morelivable for everyone, especially

women and children.

[W]omen prisoners aretwice marginalized, invisible in the

free world by virtue of their incarceration, anlargely overlooked even by prison activist by virof their gender Challenging the hyperinvisibilitywomen prisoners is central to effective activist a

academic work around issues of imprisonment

Angela Davis (1999)


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Bibliography

Books:

Davis, A. Y. (1999). A world unto itself: Multiple invisibilities of imprisonment. In Jacobson- Hardy, M.

Behind the razor wire: Portrait of contemporary American prison system. New York, New York Univer-

sity Press, pp. ix-xviii

Davis, A.Y. (2002). Public imprisonment and private violence: Reections on the hidden punishment ofwomen. In Holmstrom, N. The Socialist Feminist Project. Monthly Review Press, pp. 239-249.

Garcia, V. & McManimon, P. (2011). Gendered justice. Lanham, Rowman & Littleeld Publishers.

Heimer, K. & Kruttschnitt, C. (2006). Gender and crime: Patterns in victimization and offending. New

York, New York University Press.

Richie, B. (2012). Arrested justice: Black women, violence, and Americas prison nation. New York, New

York University.

Websites:

http://gender.stanford.edu/sites/default/les/10%20ways%20to%20learn%20more.pdf

http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/words-prison-womens-incarceration-and-loss-parental-rights

http://www.incite-national.org

http://www.wpaonline.org/pdf/Quick%20Facts%20Women%20and%20CJ_Sept09.pdf

Rachel Marie-Crane Williams, is an artist and teacher currently employed as an Associate Professor at

the University of Iowa. She has a joint appointment between the School of Art and Art History (Inter-media) and Gender Womens and Sexuality Studies. She is originally from North Carolina (the Eastern

Coastal Plain), but she has lived in Iowa since 1998, and taught at The University of Iowa since 1999.

Her work as a researcher and creative scholar has always been focused on womens issues, community,

art, and people who are incarcerated. She earned a BFA in Painting and Drawing from East Carolina Uni-

versity and an MFA (Studio Art) and a Ph.D.(Art Education) from Florida State University.

women in prison created for the justice institute 11/12

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