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Gender, Prisons, and Prison History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

Nicole Hahn Rafter
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Extract

Since the publication in 1936 of Blake McKelvey’s American Prisons (1972), social historians have developed a sizeable body of work that traces, and in some cases tries to explain, the evolution of U.S. penal institutions. These studies are important for what they tell us about perceptions of social problems in the past. They also have policy implications, indicating the historical roots of current dilemmas and alternative approaches to penal problems. Nearly all of these studies are limited, however, by their blindness to gender differences between prisons for men and women. Written mainly by men, prison histories have focused nearly exclusively on male prisoners. Perhaps their authors would argue that this bias is natural and insignificant since over time the vast majority of prisoners have been male. But by overlooking the variable of gender, prison historians have ignored an important influence on the nature and development of penal institutions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Social Science History , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , Summer 1985 , pp. 233 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association 1985 

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