Engendering Resistance: Agency and Power in Women's Prisons (Advances in Criminology) [Hardcover]

Mary Bosworth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999 | ISBN-10: 1840147393 | ISBN-13: 978-1840147391

This text presents an examination of power relationships in three women's penal establishments in England. It aims to demonstrate that, despite the prisons' undeniable restrictions, prisoners manage to resist their full control. The book's central argument is that a prison's control over its subjects is contingent and incomplete. Women manage to resist the pains of imprisonment, to some degree, despite their limited choices and opportunities. Particular attention is given to the ways in which choices and opportunities in race, class and sexuality enable such resistance. The study combines theoretical analysis of agency and identity with empirical research conducted in prison. It suggests that there has been a gap in previous literature about women in prison and draws on literature outside traditional criminology. The text indicates that there are continuities between women's experiences of imprisonment and their lives outside.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 199 pages
• Publisher: Ashgate Pub Ltd (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840147393
• ISBN-13: 978-1840147391
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,326,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is great!, August 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Engendering Resistance: Agency and Power in Women's Prisons (Advances in Criminology) (Hardcover)

This book contributes a unique perspective to women's studies, criminology and prison studies. It is refreshingly inter-disciplinary in a field that is all too often characterised by staid, empirical surveys. For anyone interested in gender and power, and in punishment, I highly recommend it.