Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research from around the world, this book brings together renowned international scholars to explore life-course perspectives on women's imprisonment. Instead of covering only one aspect of women's carceral experiences, this book offers a broader perspective that encompasses women's pathways to prison, their prison experiences and the effects of these experiences on their children's well-being, as well as their subsequent chances of desisting from crime.Encompassing perspectives from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, the United States, Ukraine and Sri Lanka, this book uncovers the similarities across time and space in women offenders' life histories and those of their children and examines the differences in women's experiences and trajectories by shedding light on the moderating effects of particular cultural contexts. Lives of Incarcerated Women will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of punishment, penology, life-course criminology, women and crime and gender studies. It will also be of great interest to practitioners.

"Relying on recent work by a virtual who's who in the study of gender and crime, this book does exactly what is needed to significantly advance our thinking about the structure of the gender-crime nexus."
--Valerie Jenness, coauthor of Making Hate a Crime: From Social Movement to Law Enforcement

"Gender and Crime is an exceptionally strong collection that focuses on the deep intersection of criminological theory and gendered violence. Through multiple lenses of sociological inquiry, this volume gifts us with a wealth of new perspectives on gendered violence."
--Jeffrey Fagan, co-editor of "The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice: Transfer of Adolescents to the Criminal Court "

While rates of violent victimization have declined, women are still much more likely than men to be attacked by an intimate partner. Simultaneously, women's involvement in the criminal justice system, as arrestees and sentenced offenders, is increasing. Criminologists are struggling to understand these patterns of offending and victimization and how they can be prevented. Composed of original contributions by many of the top scholars in criminology, these essays will help to transform our understanding of women's relation to crime.

Composed of original contributions by many of the top scholars in criminology, these essays will help to transform our understanding of women's relation to crime.

Contributors: Jennifer L. Castro, Stephen A. Cernkovich, Sarah Curtis-Fawley, Kathleen Daly, Laura Dugan, Jill A. Dienes, Rosemary Gartner, Carole Gibbs, Peggy C. Giordano, Karen Heimer, Gwen Hunnicutt, Candace Kruttschnitt, Gary LaFree, Janet L. Lauritsen, Ross Macmillan, Bill McCarthy, Jody Miller, Christopher W. Mullins, Callie Marie Rennison, Nancy Rodriguez, Sally S. Simpson, Hilary Smith, Stacy Wittrock, Halime Anal, and Marjorie S. Zatz.

Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research from around the world, this book brings together renowned international scholars to explore life-course perspectives on women's imprisonment. Instead of covering only one aspect of women's carceral experiences, this book offers a broader perspective that encompasses women's pathways to prison, their prison experiences and the effects of these experiences on their children's well-being, as well as their subsequent chances of desisting from crime.Encompassing perspectives from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, the United States, Ukraine and Sri Lanka, this book uncovers the similarities across time and space in women offenders' life histories and those of their children and examines the differences in women's experiences and trajectories by shedding light on the moderating effects of particular cultural contexts. Lives of Incarcerated Women will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of punishment, penology, life-course criminology, women and crime and gender studies. It will also be of great interest to practitioners.

"Relying on recent work by a virtual who's who in the study of gender and crime, this book does exactly what is needed to significantly advance our thinking about the structure of the gender-crime nexus."
--Valerie Jenness, coauthor of Making Hate a Crime: From Social Movement to Law Enforcement

"Gender and Crime is an exceptionally strong collection that focuses on the deep intersection of criminological theory and gendered violence. Through multiple lenses of sociological inquiry, this volume gifts us with a wealth of new perspectives on gendered violence."
--Jeffrey Fagan, co-editor of "The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice: Transfer of Adolescents to the Criminal Court "

While rates of violent victimization have declined, women are still much more likely than men to be attacked by an intimate partner. Simultaneously, women's involvement in the criminal justice system, as arrestees and sentenced offenders, is increasing. Criminologists are struggling to understand these patterns of offending and victimization and how they can be prevented. Composed of original contributions by many of the top scholars in criminology, these essays will help to transform our understanding of women's relation to crime.

Composed of original contributions by many of the top scholars in criminology, these essays will help to transform our understanding of women's relation to crime.

Contributors: Jennifer L. Castro, Stephen A. Cernkovich, Sarah Curtis-Fawley, Kathleen Daly, Laura Dugan, Jill A. Dienes, Rosemary Gartner, Carole Gibbs, Peggy C. Giordano, Karen Heimer, Gwen Hunnicutt, Candace Kruttschnitt, Gary LaFree, Janet L. Lauritsen, Ross Macmillan, Bill McCarthy, Jody Miller, Christopher W. Mullins, Callie Marie Rennison, Nancy Rodriguez, Sally S. Simpson, Hilary Smith, Stacy Wittrock, Halime Anal, and Marjorie S. Zatz.

In recent decades, the nature of criminal punishment has undergone change in the United States. This case study of women serving time in California in the 1960s and 1990s examines key points in this recent history. In this 2005 book, the authors begin with a look at imprisonment at the California Institution for Women in the early 1960s, when the rehabilitative model dominated official discourse. They compare women's experiences in the 1990s, at the California Institution for Women and the Valley State Prison, when the recent 'get tough' era was near its peak. Drawing on archival data, interviews, and surveys, their analysis considers the relationships among official philosophies and practices of imprisonment, women's responses to the prison regime, and relations between women prisoners. The experiences of women prisoners reflected the transformations Americans have witnessed in punishment over recent decades, but they also mirrored the deprivations and restrictions of imprisonment.

In recent decades, the nature of criminal punishment has undergone change in the United States. This case study of women serving time in California in the 1960s and 1990s examines key points in this recent history. In this 2005 book, the authors begin with a look at imprisonment at the California Institution for Women in the early 1960s, when the rehabilitative model dominated official discourse. They compare women's experiences in the 1990s, at the California Institution for Women and the Valley State Prison, when the recent 'get tough' era was near its peak. Drawing on archival data, interviews, and surveys, their analysis considers the relationships among official philosophies and practices of imprisonment, women's responses to the prison regime, and relations between women prisoners. The experiences of women prisoners reflected the transformations Americans have witnessed in punishment over recent decades, but they also mirrored the deprivations and restrictions of imprisonment.