Gender, Prisons, and Prison History

Abstract

Since the publication in 1936 of Blake McKelvey’s American Prisons (1972), social historians have developed a sizeable body of work that traces, and in some cases tries to explain, the evolution of U.S. penal institutions. These studies are important for what they tell us about perceptions of social problems in the past. They also have policy implications, indicating the historical roots of current dilemmas and alternative approaches to penal problems. Nearly all of these studies are limited, however, by their blindness to gender differences between prisons for men and women. Written mainly by men, prison histories have focused nearly exclusively on male prisoners. Perhaps their authors would argue that this bias is natural and insignificant since over time the vast majority of prisoners have been male. But by overlooking the variable of gender, prison historians have ignored an important influence on the nature and development of penal institutions.

Gender expectations and their impact on black female offenders and victims

“…Rafter (1984) examined the historical development of institutions for women and noted the differences between prisons for black and white women. According to Rafter, custodial units were often predominantly black, whereas reformatories tended to be predominantly white.…”

Percepción de la calidad de vida en prisión. La importancia de una buena organización y un trato digno

“…una vez traducido y adaptado al castellano, el cuestionario se administró a una muestra representativa de los internos de cuatro centros penitenciarios de hombres de la provincia de Barcelona, lo cual nos permitió constatar la diferente evaluación que realizan los presos de dichos centros. Pudiera darse el caso de que los resultados fueran distintos en centros penitenciarios de mujeres ya que, como ha mostrado una extensa literatura criminológica, las penalidades de las mujeres en prisión tienen características específicas (Rafter 1985;Bosworth 1999;Kruttschnitt y Gartner 2003; véanse referencias actualizadas en Almeda 2017). Sin embargo, por motivos de oportunidad, el estudio se limitó a prisiones de hombres 2 .…”

Peering beyond the bars: Institutional confinement of female inmates

“…In the preindustrial era, women were not only punished in a similar fashion as men, they were often incarcerated in the same facilities as men (Dobash et. al., 1986;Rafter, 1985;Young & Reviere, 2006). While these women were often in a separate wing of the prison, they lived in poor conditions and often suffered sexual abuse at the hands of male prison staff (Dobash et.…”

“…Such conditions existed until the late 19th century, when reformers such as Elizabeth Fry, Dorthea Dix, Sarah Doremus and Abby Hopper Gibbons encouraged separate correctional facilities for male and female offenders (Dobash et. al., 1986;Freedman, 1974;Pollock, 2002;Rafter, 1985).…”

“…During the colonial era, this housing problem was handled by placing female offenders within the same prison facilities as males (Dobash et. al., 1986;Rafter, 1985). More recently, the United States was not prepared for the explosion in the female prison population, (from 12,300 in 1980 to 96,000 in 2002) that emerged at the end of the twentieth century.…”