Slide 1In the SystemThe National Context: “Get Tough on Crime”White-Collar CrimeWomen in the Criminal Justice SystemDisparitiesResistance in PrisonsCriminalization as a Political ProcessImmigration DetentionPrison Reform, Decriminalization, Decarceration, or AbolitionWOMEN, CRIME, AND CRIMINALIZATIONChapter 9 OverviewIn the System•The number of women who are serving time in U.S. jails and prisons, on probation, or otherwise caught up in the “correctional” system has increased dramatically in the past 30 years•Criminalization is one of the most dramatic ways in which gender, race, and class position shapes women’s lives•Societal assumptions justify and reinforce the separation between women who are “inside” and women who are “outside.”The National Context: “Get Tough on Crime”The War on Drugs•Initiated under the Regan Administration•Proponents argued it was to quell narco-terrorism•3-strikes-you’re-out: requires life sentence for 3 time felons•Pursued aggressively in low-income Black American and Latino neighborhoods•Truth: White people are the majority of U.S. drug users and sellersPrison Industrial Complex•Interconnected relationships among private corporations, the public prison system, and public interests•The increase in incarceration is big business•Construction/servicing of prisons and jails provide income for apprx. 700,000 people•Prisoners are the ultimate flexible and dependable workforce (no minimum wage, no worker’s comp, no unions)•Prisoners can only call collectWhite-Collar Crime•The greatest economic losses from crime are from white-collar crime (fraud, embezzlement, etc.)•High-income criminals are less likely to be incarcerated or considered “hardened criminals”•Negligence, disregard for the rules of governing financial institutions, and other crimes committed by bankers, mortgage lenders, and hedge fund managers triggered the worldwide economic recession which started in the U.S. housing market (2008)•The Bank Bailout Bill allocated $700 billion of public money to corporate banks•This took money away from social needsWomen in the Criminal Justice System•(2010) More than 200,000 women were being held in U.S. jails and prisons [7% of federal and state prisons•(2010) 112,822 prisoners or 12% of local jail populations•The majority of female arrests are for small-scale drug offenses•Contemporary gender-neutral prison policies mean that female and male prisoners are treated alike, based on the male prison model•Male prison guards may be assigned to women’s housing units, putting them under 24-hr male supervision•In some instances, medicating women is a routine way of managing themDisparitiesRace and Class•Disparities in incarceration based on race and class are a consistent trend in U.S. law enforcement•Incarceration rates (per 100,000)white women – 47Black women – 133Latinas – 77Many crimes committed on Native American reservations are classified as federal offenses•Studies indicate more punitive sentences for women of colorGirls•(2204) young girls accounted for 30% of juvenile detention populations•Zero tolerance policies in schools have turned relatively minor offenses into crimes.•There are fewer rehabilitation and housing placements available for girls than boys; girls spend most of the time waiting for placement•Most juvenile detention facilities are not equipped to address girls emotional, physical, or mental health needs.Resistance in Prisons“Women may refuse to cooperate with guards as a “personal act of rebellion” and a way to retain “some modicum” of their own power• Stormy Ogden, a member of the Tule River Yokuts, Kashaya Pomo and Lake County Pomo nations in northern California would change her label from “other” to AI. (Prisons typically classify people as Black, Hispanic, or other)•Women may also share information, or set up educational resources to reduce the effects of dehumanization and alienationCriminalization as a Political Process•Criminalization is a political process whereby people who do not fit dominant societal norms are labels as criminals and there circumstances and behaviors are defined as crimes; it is a way of punishing certain groups•Ideologies of nationalism, patriotism, racism, sexism, and heterosexism are all deployed to justify criminalization•Ex: Women and girls, drug users, gender nonconforming people, homeless people, immigrants, people from “enemy” nations•Because crime is politically constructed, in a sense all incarcerated people are political prisonersImmigration Detention•Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can detain up to 33,400 people at a time ($166 per person per day)•People in ICE custody are held in some 300 detention facilities •121 detainees died in ICE custody between 2003-2011, may from issues that required timely treatment•5.5 million children live with at least one undocumented parentPrison Reform, Decriminalization, Decarceration, or Abolition•Many legal scholars, researchers, and advocacy organizations argue for substantial changes to the punitive approach of law enforcement systems•They challenge the logic of current policy that expects people released from prison with no new skills or resources to return to the same impoverished communities •Advocates are pressing for health care, drug treatment, educational, therapeutic and life-skills programs•Yet the colossal investment in new jails/prisons eats up state funding in direct competition with education•Many researchers and advocates challenge the idea that prisons can solve social problems that are rooted in racism, poverty and