Criminalizing Women

Criminalizing women has become all too frequent in these neo-liberal times. Meanwhile, poverty, racism, and misogyny continue to frame criminalized women’s lives. Criminalizing Women introduces readers to the key issues addressed by feminists engaged in criminology research over the past four decades. Chapters explore how narratives that construct women as errant females, prostitutes, street gang associates and symbols of moral corruption mask the connections between women’s restricted choices and the conditions of their lives. The book shows how women have been surveilled, disciplined, managed, corrected, and punished, and it considers the feminist strategies that have been used to address the impact of imprisonment and to draw attention to the systemic abuses against poor and racialized women. In addition to updating material in the introductions and substantive chapters, this second edition includes new contributions that consider the media representations of missing and murdered women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the gendered impact of video surveillance technologies (CCTV), the role of therapeutic interventions in the death of Ashley Smith, the progressive potential of the Inside/Out Prison Exchange Program, and the use of music and video as decolonizing strategies.

This reference focuses on the key issues addressed by feminists in their engagement with criminology over the past four decades. Exploring women's lives as "errant females," this volume maps out the connections between the choices women make and their environment as linked to the wider socio-political context and considers feminist strategies used to address the conditions inside women's prisons, defend criminalized women's human rights, and draw attention to the systemic abuses against poor and racialized women.

This groundbreaking book addresses the ominous trend of introducing and passing laws and court decisions regulating the actions of women and the control of their bodies. One of the few books published on the criminalization of women’s bodies, this timely book takes a serious look at the effect these laws would have on women and the threat to their autonomy, privacy, and control; their bodily integrity; control over reproductive capacities; and their constitutional rights. From ancient literature to the literature and law of contemporary society, a woman’s value has often rested on her fulfilling expected roles as wife and mother. The lack of respect for women inherent in this predominantly male-oriented line of thinking is reinforced in this new trend of legislation and court decisions attempting to regulate women’s behavior and reproductive capacity. The Criminalization of a Woman’s Body thoroughly discusses these special laws governing women’s personal choices and the threats these laws and court decisions pose to women’s autonomy and constitutional rights. Scholars from Israel, Italy, and the United States provide a multidimensional discussion of the problem facing women in many, if not all, countries. Contributors represent various disciplines including, law, philosophy, medicine, political science, sociology, women’s studies, and criminal justice. Articles analyze sensitive issues surrounding abortion and its impending criminalization in several countries; controversial topics on contract motherhood; the power of administrative agencies to control and informally criminalize pregnant women and new mothers; policies meant to protect the fetus from pregnant women who deviate from medically, socially, and legally sanctioned behavior which may deter women from seeking any medical care; and the destruction of families due to the criminalization of pregnant women and new mothers and the consequent removal of their children and placement into foster care. Professors, students, librarians, agency workers dealing with women’s issues, and women and men in the general public will find this important book a helpful tool in sorting through the complex issues on criminalizing women’s bodies.

In Policing the Womb, Michele Goodwin explores how states abuse laws and infringe on rights to police women and their pregnancies. This book looks at the impact of these often arbitrary laws which can result in the punishment, incarceration, and humiliation of women, particularly poor women and women of color. Frequently based on unscientific claims of endangering a fetus, these laws allow extraordinary powers to state authorities over reproductive freedom and pregnancies. In this book, Michele Goodwin discusses real examples of women whose pregnancies have been controlled by the law and what has led to the United States being the deadliest country in the developed world for a woman to be pregnant.

Drawing on the stories of forty-two incarcerated women, Coming Back to Jail broadens the focus to examine the role of trauma in the women's lives.

Immigrant women are not only at greater risk of experiencing domestic violence but they also under-utilize mainstream services because their needs are not adequately met there. Understanding their situation involves recognizing that their views and experiences of domestic violence are influenced by the intersections of gender, race, class and immigration. Immigrant women may not access these services because they are unavailable in their community or the women are not aware of the services, or because the services and intervention strategies are not linguistically and culturally appropriate, portable, or coordinated with other services. As a result, the outcomes and solutions provided are often compromised and unsatisfactory. Many immigrant women stay in the abusive relationship, essentially hiding in plain sight, due to the inadequate support available and despite the extraordinary efforts of many service providers. Based on interviews with service providers from the immigration, criminal justice and family justice systems in four different communities in BC, Hiding in Plain Sight examines the barriers encountered by abused immigrant women across Canada as they seek services and support, and identifies the key challenges for abused immigrant women accessing services as well as the struggles service organizations experience in meeting their needs.

Based on interviews with 24 women incarcerated in a Canadian provincial prison for a range of offenses, this book examines the experiences of these women and the factors that influenced their criminal behaviour. The first chapter addresses the issue of how to situate women's law violations and discusses the theoretical framework of the study. Four of the women's stories are introduced to explore the benefits of beginning with women's own accounts of their troubles with the law. The author notes that her approach combines socialist feminism and standpoint feminism. While socialist feminism incorporates an analysis of the structural features that impact women's lives (capitalism, patriarchy, and racism), standpoint feminism provides a way of approaching how those structures are worked out in women's everyday experiences. The chapter concludes with a discussion of why abuse has been chosen as the primary factor for understanding the lives of the women in the prison. The second chapter focuses on the women's histories of abuse. The discussion is divided into two parts : childhood experiences and experiences as adults. Each part uses the women's stories to reveal the various forms that abuse has taken. Chapter Three considers the ways in which the women's law violations connect with their abuse experiences, followed by a chapter that concentrates on the women's experiences of prison. Using the women's own accounts as a guide, the author examines whether or not the experience of prison enables the women to resolve their troubles. Prison can be interpreted as a reinforcement, and deepening, of the oppression that has pervaded their lives. Many, however, report that the corrections system has provided resources and direction for addressing their problems.

As the fastest growing prison population worldwide, more and more women are living in cages and most of them are mothers. This alarming trend has huge ramifications for women, children and communities across the globe. Empathy for mothers behind bars and concern for criminalized mothers in the community is in short supply. Mothers are criminalized for their vulnerabilities and for making unpopular but difficult choices under material and ideological conditions not of their own choosing. Criminalized Mothers, Criminalizing Mothering shines a spotlight on mothers who are, by law or social regulation, criminalized and examines their troubles and triumphs. This book offers a critical and compassionate lens on social (in)justice, mass incarceration, and collective miseries women experience (i.e., economic inequality, gendered violence, devalued care work, lone-parenting etc.). This book is also about mothers’ encounters with systems of control, confinement, and criminalization, but also their experiences of care.