Understanding Disrespectful Behavior Through a Gendered Lens: Race and Power in a Women’s Prison

Abstract

Seventy-four incarcerated women in a Midwestern prison were interviewed to explore their experience with disrespect between inmates and staff in a prison setting. Nonwhite women experienced disrespect and conflict differently than their white peers. While the women generally described disrespect as staff members expressing their power inappropriately, non-white women were quick to describe disrespect as tied to racist behaviors. Further, African-American women in our study were more likely to believe that few people, inmates or employees, show respect to others on a regular basis in prison. White women tend to be more positive in their evaluations of interactions with staff themselves and critical of their socialization. When discussing staff failings, they focus on empathy training as opposed to training in cultural competence. Non-white women, experience what they perceive to be racially charged domination/abuses of power by the staff. This risks placing them at a distinct rehabilitative disadvantage compared to their white peers.