Customer Reviews

Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women In Prison

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While this like other books is not perfect, the authors begin to try to address the shortage of information on women in the criminal justice system, especially in the prison system. In particular, the authors provide attention to women of color, who like their male counterparts, comprise the majority of those in prison. As a criminology and sociology professor at a private Jesuit university, this book is very beneficial for getting my students to think outside the box and begin critical discourse on the topic. Most women, like most men, are not in prison for violent crimes. They are incarcerated for non-violent crimes, most of which involve drugs. furthermore, they are more likely than men to be incarcerated for drug offenses, and this has been a major contributing factor to their increasing incarceration rates, which are occuring at a faster and higher rate than men overall. In fact, in the federal system, around 40% of all offenders are incarcerated for drugs. While not all women who offend have been victimized, most have some history of adult and/or childhood victimization, which this book attempts to address. Unfortunately, given the non-violent nature of the crimes that most women commit, they continue to be ignored or provided only marginal attention in the criminological field. Women of color are even more marginalized in the literature, though this is beginning to change. This book is a good start to getting people to begin addressing these issues. The authors make no pretense about being neutral, which may concern some readers focused on academic rigor. however, the framework for the book does not take away from its contributions, even if they are not flawless. Nothing ever is.

wonderful insight into the lives of african american women in prison. A definite read!

Professor Johnson gives the total victim typology a full-out book-length workout. Every excuse for the women she cites comitting crimes is dredged out and covered weakly with academic gloss. Most women are in prison for violent, not non-violent crimes, which invalidates many of her arguments for them as primarily society's victims (as prostitutes, drug addicts etc.) A lower % of African-American women are in prison than African-American men, which she fails to cite, and also fails to butress her points. The whinier of the voices she quotes also grates after a while.