Imposition of despair—An ethnography of women in prison

Abstract

An ethnography, or cultural description, of women's prisons has been developed from observations and interview information collected at two different minimum security prisons for women in the State of New Mexico. 1 Data were collected at the Women's Honor Unit, Albuquerque, New Mexico, during five months of field research (1978–1979). Twenty-six women were held prisoner in this minimum security center, located in an urban setting on the grounds of the state diagnostic and detention center for juveniles. The facility was a large old house, once used by the Superintendent of the Juvenile Center. This unit was closed in 1980 . The research follows in the tradition of the early studies of men's prisons and provides a dynamic explanation of the cultural categories of incarcerated women. In addition, the Radium Springs Center for Women was a source for research data during eighteen months of field research (1981–1982). This minimum security center held thirty-eight women in a rural setting in the southern part ...