Women Behind Bars The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System

by Talvi, Silja JA

• ISBN13: 9781580051958
• ISBN10: 1580051952
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-11-02
• Publisher: Seal Press

Summary

More and more women—mothers, grandmothers, wives, daughters, and sisters—are doing hard prison time all across the United States. Many of them are facing the prospect of years, decades, even lifetimes behind bars. 

Oddly, there's been little public discussion about the dramatic increase of women in the prison system. What exactly is happening here, and why? The answers are in Women Behind Bars, in which investigative journalist Silja Talvi sheds light on why American girls and women are being locked up at such unprecedented rates. Talvi travels across the country to weave together interviews with inmates, correctional officers, and administrators, providing readers with a glance at the impact incarceration has on our society. 

With a combination of compassion and critical analysis, Talvi delivers a timely, in-depth analysis of a growing and extremely complicated issue.

Author Biography

Silja Talvi is a multiple award-winning journalist and essayist, she has written for The Nation, In These Times and the Christian Science Monitor. Her work has also appeared in numerous book anthologies, including the award-winning Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor, Body Outlaws, and The W Effect. Born in Helsinki, Finland, Talvi spent much of her childhood in California and now lives in Seattle.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: The Invisible Struggle
Here's Your One-Way Ticket to Prison	p. 1
Women in Wartime	p. 22
Abuse Behind the Wall	p. 54
Dangerous Medicine	p. 79
Trying to Stay Sane	p. 118
Criminalizing Motherhood	p. 151
Women Who Kill	p. 163
Women Loving Women	p. 194
Living in the God Pod	p. 208
Shipping Women's Bodies	p. 218
International Lockup	p. 228
Hope and Healing	p. 267
Afterword: Chasing the Beam, Chasing Dignity	p. 286
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