Using a historical framework, this book offers not only the penal history of the death penalty in the states that have given women the death penalty, but it also retells the stories of the women who have been executed and those currently awaiting their fate on death row. This work takes a historical look at women and the death penalty in the United States from 1900 to 1998. It gives the reader a look at the penal codes in the various states regarding the death penalty and the personal stories of women who have been executed or who are currently on death row. As Americans continue to debate the enforcement of the death penalty, the issues of race and gender as they relate to the death penalty are also debated. This book offers a unique perspective to a recurring sociopolitical issue.

Many social scientists have ignored the diversity of the women's prison population and the differential treatment to which women of various backgrounds have been subjected. These omissions have affected the type of information available on women in the criminal justice system as it relates exclusively to gender. The goal of this work is to document women's unique and gender-biased experience as participants and victims of the criminal justice system.

Topics include women on death row, race and gender issues, probation and parole, female juvenile delinquents, prostitution, health and mental health issues of women in prison, social justice concerns, and educational programs. The references included highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the issues as they cross such fields as law, criminal justice, social work, and psychology, and reveal the intensity of racism and sexism often ignored by the system, but confronted by the female population in the criminal justice system.