Book Description

?The integration of race into the discussion of women and corrections is important, particularly in the classroom. This book, unlike most, does not address the issue of race as an afterthought, but instead shows its relevance by integrating it throughout.? ?Stephanie Bush-Baskette, Rutgers University?This comprehensive text is a strong contribution to the study of women and incarceration. Particularly effective in terms of its focus on race, gender, and imprisonment, it should be required reading in a wide range of courses.? ?Barbara Bloom, Sonoma State UniversityToday?s prisons are increasingly filled with poor, dark-skinned, single mothers locked up for low-level drug involvement?with serious ramifications for the corrections system. Women Behind Bars offers the first comprehensive exploration of the challenges faced by incarcerated women in the United States.Young and Reviere show conclusively that serving time in prisons designed by and for men not only does little to address what landed women, particularly women of color, there in the first place, but also undermines their prospects for an improved life on the outside. Using a multifaceted race/class/gender lens, the authors make a convincing argument that women in prison are punished twice: first by their sentences, and again because the policies that govern time behind bars were not designed to address women?s unique problems and responsibilities.Vernetta D. Young is associate professor of sociology at Howard University. She is coeditor of African American Classics in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Rebecca Reviere is associate professor of sociology at Howard University. Contents: Equal Rights or Lost Opportunities? Women in the Prison System. A Brief History of Women in Prison. The Changing Face of Female Prisoners. Women Prisoners: Special Issues. Drug Use and Drug Treatment. Mental and Physical Health Care. Women and Children First. Death and Dying. We Want You Back: The Return to Society. Conclusion. Still More Problems Than Solutions.