Incarceration, welfare state and labour market nexus: the increasing significance of gender in the prison system

Abstract

This chapter analyses the growing significance of gender in the US prison system. Its premise is that gender is increasingly important to recognizing the consequences of mass incarceration and the new emphasis on the ‘reintegration’ of ex-prisoners. Some aspects of the importance of gender are clearly evident, such as the dramatic increase in the number of women in the US prison population and the advent of ‘gender-responsive’ programming designed to meet the unique problems and needs of women prisoners. But the full import of gender cannot be fully appreciated until these more apparent changes are linked to fundamental shifts brought about by the influence of neo-liberalism on labour markets, welfare policies and the apparatus of the carceral state. Under the conditions of neo-liberalism the state has not only punished more, but differently. In particular, women who rely upon the state for protection or resources are increasingly subjected to punishment outside prison, in the form of greater surveillance and moral scrutiny. At the same time, incarceration rates have soared by imprisoning more women (and men) convicted of non-violent, drug-related crimes. Since these policies are justified by assertions that imprisonment will improve public safety and reduce recidivism, there are strong incentives for federal, state and local criminal justice systems to promote the development of new low-cost rehabilitative programmes, both inside and outside prison, designed to serve both of these goals. This analysis reveals that the punitive turn in the US not only has profound consequences for women, but also constitutes a fundamental paradigm shift for the carceral state. In accord with expectations of improved public safety and ‘reformed’ criminals, the criminal justice system has developed new strategies of punishment, treatment and management of detained and released prisoners. These strategies are varied; some are gender specific while others impose gender neutrality, yet they often rely upon old criminological assumptions about men and new theories about women as offenders. As a result, the criminal justice system is not only able to accommodate the growing number of women, but also to expand its reintegration apparatus in ways that appear to more effectively address the treatment needs of all prisoners. Yet the reality is that the prison system is releasing back into communities a rapidly growing number of prisoners whose preparation for life on the outside is woefully inadequate, and that thesecommunities provide sparse services to meet the vital needs around healthcare, housing and, most importantly, employment. Ultimately, as opportunities for good jobs diminish for both men and women, and the inadequacy of social services in the community grows, the prison plays a larger role in the life of the poor, minorities and marginalized groups, and its stigmatizing effects are longer lasting. The incorporation of gender-focused strategies is integral to the logic of, rather than a mitigating factor against, the expanding reach of the criminal justice system and its negative impacts. The first section of this chapter examines the demographic shifts that have led to this situation and frames their significance in terms of how the state exercises social control. The second section posits that the new focus on prison reintegration is part of a structural change in how the system recycles people in and out of prison. The analysis demonstrates how the growth of reintegration programming is a stopgap measure for ex-prisoners who lack adequate social service and employment opportunities. The subsequent sections look at how the notion of ‘gender-responsive’ reform is integral to the emergence of re-entry enterprises. And, finally, the chapter examines how grass-roots ex-prisoner activism might produce a distinctly different perspective on the re-entry problem, as well as a more realistic perspective on the structural challenges facing ex-prisoners.