Within corrections, women have made notable impacts in policy, cultural changes, and leadership, yet they have received little attention and study. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, this book fills that gap, examining women in corrections executive positions—their motivations, successes, and challenges. From initial entry into corrections work through their careers, interviews with members of the Association of Women Executives in Corrections (AWEC) reveal their motives for promoting, their career trajectories, and the challenges they faced in a male dominated environment, such as gender bias, perceptions of leadership effectiveness, and difficulty maintaining work-life balance.

This book highlights a neglected area in the field of rehabilitation of female offenders with AIDS. It provides data to show how women, working as HIV peer educators in prison, utilize their peer experiences as a transition point for rehabilitation both inside and outside of the penitentiary. HIV and prison are inextricably linked and education has proved to be the one constant that mitigates the spread of both HIV and crime. Research on female inmates in general is not frequent and this book presents unique qualitative data that includes rich accounts from the women themselves. It illustrates the benefits derived by female inmates who work in an HIV prison-based peer program, while adding to the criminology literature on female patterns of criminality and rehabilitation. It provides a greater understanding of how prison programs affect the processes of criminal desistance and behavioral changes for female inmates. Women involved in such programming are able to change the criminal trajectory of their life direction. contributing to reduced levels of recidivism and institutional disciplinary infractions. The implications for these programs is relevant within the broader perspective of women, HIV and incarceration. "