THEIR SISTERS' KEEPERS - THE ORIGINS OF FEMALE CORRECTIONS IN AMERICA

• NCJ Number: 49312
• Author(s): E B FREEDMAN
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 462 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

THE WOMEN'S PRISON REFORM MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES FROM THE MID-19TH CENTURY TO WORLD WAR I IS EXAMINED

Abstract

THREE PHASES IN THE HISTORY OF FEMALE CORRECTIONS ARE NOTED: THE IDENTIFICATION OF FEMALE CRIMINALITY AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM; THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FIRST SEPARATE WOMEN'S PRISONS BETWEEN 1870 AND 1900; AND THE CHANGES IN FEMALE CORRECTIONS DURING THE PROGRESSIVE ERA. IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY, FEARS ABOUT CRIME AND RELIANCE ON THE 'TRUE WOMAN' TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN SOCIETY CONTRIBUTED TO GROWING CONCERN ABOUT FEMALE DEVIANCY. CRIME RATES AMONG WOMEN ROSE AFTER 1840, PLACING AN INCREASING BURDEN ON PENAL INSTITUTIONS. MANY OFFICIALS AND SOME REFORMERS FELT THAT 'FALLEN WOMEN' DESERVED THE INFERIOR TREATMENT THEY RECEIVED. HOWEVER, A FEW WOMEN REFORMERS CONDEMNED THE TREATMENT OF FEMALE PRISONERS IN JAILS AND PRISONS RUN BY MEN AND BLAMED SOCIETY, MEN PARTICULARLY, FOR THE PLIGHT OF THE FEMALE CRIMINAL. THESE REFORMERS PROPOSED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SEPARATE PRISONS RUN BY AND FOR WOMEN. BETWEEN 1870 AND 1900, REFORMERS IN INDIANA, NEW YORK, AND MASSACHUSETTS SUCCESSFULLY AGITATED FOR WOMEN'S PRISONS IN THEIR STATES. THESE EARLY INSTITUTIONS STRESSED DOMESTIC TRAINING AND EMOTIONAL APPEALS TO PRISONERS' 'FEMININE INSTINCTS' WHILE INSISTING ON STRICT DISCIPLINE AND ORDER TO PROVE WOMEN'S COMPETENCY AS PRISON ADMINISTRATORS. DURING THE PROGRESSIVE ERA, A NEW GENERATION OF REFORMERS EXPANDED FEMALE CORRECTIONS BEYOND ITS INSTITUTIONAL AND DOMESTIC BASES. THESE REFORMERS TURNED THEIR ATTENTION TO SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS OF FEMALE CRIMINALITY, WHICH RESULTED IN EMPHASIS ON PREVENTION AND NONINSTITUTIONAL TREATMENT. BY 1920, WOMEN'S PRISONS WERE A STANDARD FEATURE OF CORRECTIONS, BUT THE OLDER MODEL OF DOMESTIC, 'FEMININE' TREATMENT PREVAILED OVER PROGRESSIVE INNOVATIONS. FEMALE PRISONERS CONTINUED TO BE TREATED LIKE JUVENILES AND RETRAINED AS 'TRUE WOMEN' AND MENIAL LABORERS. SUPPORTING DATA, BIOGRAPHIES OF REFORMERS, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)