The story of the rise of prisons and development of prison systems in the United States has been studied extensively in scholarship, but the experiences of female inmates in these institutions have not received the same attention. Historically, women incarcerated in prison, jails, and reformatories accounted for a small number of inmates across the United States. Early on, they were often held in prisons alongside men and faced neglect, exploitation, and poor living conditions. Various attempts to reform them, ranging from moral instruction and education to domestic training, faced opposition at times from state officials, prison employees, and even male prison reformers. Due to the consistent small populations and relative neglect the women often faced, their experiences in prison have been understudied. This collection of essays seeks to recapture the perspective on women's prison experience from a range of viewpoints. This edited collection will explore the challenges women faced as inmates, their efforts to exert agency or control over their lives and bodies, how issues of race and social class influenced experiences, and how their experiences differed from that of male inmates. Contributions extend from the early nineteenth century into the twenty-first century to provide an opportunity to examine change over time with regards to female imprisonment. Furthermore, the chapters examine numerous geographic regions, allowing for readers to analyze how place and environment shapes the inmate experience.

What type of women are sent to prison? How are these women prosecuted, and what are their crimes? This text traces the changing patterns of women's crime and punishment in a representative state from 1835 to 2000. Drawn from primary sources, the voices of female prisoners emerge poignantly as individuals tell their stories. Illinois - a large, industrial state with an ethnically and racially diverse population - provides the setting for exploring the interactions of gender, race and class in the justice system. From early times, women's prisons in Illinois reflected the dominant national models and trends in penology. Both typical and progressive, Illinois prisons provide information on factors affecting female incarceration, such as race, ethnicity, marital status, age, education and occupation. L. Mara Dodge tracks incarcerated women from the time they entered the criminal justice system and analyses the changes in penology. Assessing the "reformatory" approach of 1930s penology, she focuses on the Illinois State Reformatory for Women at Dwight - a "model" reformatory embodying the cottage-life ideal of Progressive Era reformers. Here, Dodge finds, female prisoners, while in theory being introduced to gentler ways of living, in fact were subjected to levels of surveillance and control more intensive than those of male prisons. Evidence shows that such reformatories succeeded not so much in creating more docile and dutiful subjects as in stirring resistance and fostering a powerful inmate subculture.

Prostitutes, shoplifters, vagrants, murderesses-Dodge tracks the history of such "improper" women as she explores the history of female incarceration in Illinois from 1835 to the present. In court and in prison, these women-some who are considered beyond all hope of reformation-have received vastly different treatment than their male counterparts. A woman's fate in court often hung on officials' estimates of her moral and sexual reputation. Alleged promiscuity, illegitimate births, venereal disease, interracial relationships, or use of alcohol could condemn her in the eyes of judge and jury. Ethnic and social prejudice played a role, too, as most incarcerated women poor, workingclass, immigrants, or members of a racial minority. In women's prisons, the slightest misbehavior-from poor table manners to inappropriate dress-could lead to disciplinary action. Guards vigilantly monitored female friendships, suspecting lesbianism in the most innocent acts. Instead of creating docile and dutiful subjects, such treatment stirred resistance among the prisoners and fostered a powerful inmate subculture. Highly readable yet theoretically sophisticated, Whores and Thieves of the Worst Kind provides a striking collective portrait of incarcerated women. Drawn from extensive primary sources, the voices of female prisoners emerge powerfully and poignantly as individuals tell their stories.

The story of the rise of prisons and development of prison systems in the United States has been studied extensively in scholarship, but the experiences of female inmates in these institutions have not received the same attention. Historically, women incarcerated in prison, jails, and reformatories accounted for a small number of inmates across the United States. Early on, they were often held in prisons alongside men and faced neglect, exploitation, and poor living conditions. Various attempts to reform them, ranging from moral instruction and education to domestic training, faced opposition at times from state officials, prison employees, and even male prison reformers. Due to the consistent small populations and relative neglect the women often faced, their experiences in prison have been understudied. This collection of essays seeks to recapture the perspective on women's prison experience from a range of viewpoints. This edited collection will explore the challenges women faced as inmates, their efforts to exert agency or control over their lives and bodies, how issues of race and social class influenced experiences, and how their experiences differed from that of male inmates. Contributions extend from the early nineteenth century into the twenty-first century to provide an opportunity to examine change over time with regards to female imprisonment. Furthermore, the chapters examine numerous geographic regions, allowing for readers to analyze how place and environment shapes the inmate experience.