Women at the Margins: Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance

by Garner; J Dianne

• ISBN13: 9781560239710
• ISBN10: 1560239719
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-06-04
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A sobering look at women at the edges of society, Women at the Margins: Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance addresses the barriers that isolate them from the mainstream, strip them or their citizenship, and render them expendable. Mixing detailed research with poetry, art, and prose created by marginalized women, the book makes a compelling argument for social change. It is an essential resource for sociology, social work, legal and penal system professionals, and academics.

Table of Contents

About the Editors	xiii
Contributors	xv
Foreword	xxi
Patsy Takemoto Mink
Acknowledgments	xxiii
Introduction to Art and Women at the Margins	1	(1)
Deborah Zinn
Why Art?	1	(4)
Increasing Inequality: The Ascendancy of Neoconservatism and Institutional Exclusion of Poor Women	5	(28)
Josefina Figueira-McDonough
Rosemary C. Sarri
The Laissez-Faire Myth, the Neoconservatives, and the Liberal Model of Welfare	6	(8)
The American Gulag: Extending the Net of Control	14	(3)
The Added Oppression of Women Behind Bars	17	(3)
Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance of Marginalized Women	20	(13)
SECTION I: INCREASING THE DUAL CONTROL OF WOMEN AND DISTORTING THEIR STRENGTH
Welfare Reform: Tightening the Screws	33	(22)
Joel F. Handler
Welfare in ``Crisis'': 1960s-1996	34	(2)
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)	36	(1)
The Work-First Strategy	37	(9)
The Future	46	(9)
The Forgotten Group: Women in Prisons and Jails	55	(32)
Sheryl Pimlott
Rosemary C. Sarri
Introduction	55	(1)
Background	56	(3)
Women and Crime	59	(2)
Behavior and Attitudes of Women in Prison	61	(1)
History of the Incarceration of Women	62	(2)
Characteristics of Female Offenders	64	(14)
Conclusions and Recommendations	78	(9)
The Storm Is Passing Over: Marginalized African-American Women	87	(16)
Harriette Pipes McAdoo
African Cultural Legacies	91	(1)
Demographic Changes	92	(1)
Family Structure	93	(1)
Roles of Males in Families	94	(1)
Marginalization and Urban Sprawl	95	(1)
The Passing Storm	96	(7)
SECTION II: BLOCKAGES TO AUTONOMY
The Controllers and the Controlled	103	(22)
Deborah M. Whitley
Paula L. Dressel
The Controllers and the Controlled in Political-Economic Context	104	(3)
Forms and Context of Control	107	(3)
Policy Framework of Control: Personal Responsibility and TANF	110	(2)
Practice Framework of Control: Welfare Workers and Welfare Recipients	112	(2)
Policy Framework of Control: The Get-Tough Policy	114	(4)
Practice Framework of Control: Relations Between Guards and Prisoners	118	(1)
Prospects for the Future	119	(6)
Welfare Reform Now That We Know It: Enforcing Women's Poverty and Preventing Self-Sufficiency	125	(26)
Diana M. Pearce
The Centrality of Motherhood and Family Preservation	125	(1)
Mothers, Work, and Welfare: Not a New Combination	126	(3)
The Impact of the 1996 Welfare Reform: Work Requirements and Time Limits	129	(9)
Evaluating the Economic Resources of Families PostWelfare	138	(13)
Low-Income Women and Housing: Where Will They Live?	151	(24)
Elizabeth A. Mulroy
Roots of the Crisis: Structural and Personal Factors	153	(4)
Affordable Housing Programs	157	(5)
The Housing Affordability Squeeze	162	(6)
Housing Is a Women's Issue	168	(7)
SECTION III: GENDER, AGE, AND HEALTH INTERACTIONS
Triple Jeopardy: Women Marginalized Substance Abuse, Poverty, and Incarceration	175	(28)
Anna Celeste Burke
Introduction	175	(1)
Vicious Cycles and Downward Spirals	176	(1)
Substance Use and Abuse Among Women: Closing the Gender Gap	177	(4)
Differences in the ``Addiction Careers'' of Men and Women	181	(2)
Policies of Neglect and Punishment Toward Women with Substance Abuse Problems	183	(6)
Bringing an End to Vicious Cycles and Downward Spirals	189	(4)
Finding the Will to Change Women's Lives	193	(10)
Life at the Margins: Older Women Living in Poverty	203	(26)
Edith Elisabeth Flynn
Demographic Trends for the Aging Female Population	205	(3)
The Gender of Poverty in America's Aging Population	208	(8)
Aging in Prison: Focus on the Older Female Prisoner	216	(5)
Special Needs of the Older Female Prisoner	221	(1)
The Older Female Offender and Recidivism	222	(1)
Conclusion	223	(6)
Teenage Pregnancy: Mediating Rotten Outcomes and Improving Opportunities	229	(24)
Judy Walruff
Teenage Motherhood in the United States	229	(1)
Attitudes, Values, and Economics	230	(4)
Theoretical Interpretations	234	(2)
The Conflict of Developmental Issues and Policy	236	(2)
Teenage Mothers and Welfare Reform	238	(1)
Teenagers' Prenatal Care Access: An Arizona Study	239	(4)
Support Services for Teenage Parents	243	(1)
Recommendation for Change to Health and Social Policy	243	(10)
SECTION IV: BAD WOMEN, UNDESERVING MOTHERS
Controlled and Excluded: Reproduction and Motherhood Among Poor and Imprisoned Women	253	(18)
M. A. Bortner
The Links: No Safe Place	255	(3)
Excessive Punishment: The Sex and Gender Tax	258	(4)
Punishing the Future: Women and Their Children	262	(4)
Conclusion	266	(5)
Children and Their Incarcerated Mothers	271	(24)
Wendy C. Ascione
Joyce Dixson
Women and Mothers in Prison	273	(1)
Effects of Mothers' Incarceration on Children	274	(2)
Barriers in the Criminal Justice System	276	(2)
Incarcerated Women and the Child Welfare System	278	(3)
Programs and Services for Children of Incarcerated Mothers	281	(7)
Discussion	288	(3)
Conclusion	291	(4)
Women's Recidivism and Reintegration: Two Sides of the Same Coin	295	(26)
Patricia D'Brien
Nancy J. Harm
Factors Influencing Successful versus Unsuccessful Reintegration	296	(4)
Study Participants	300	(2)
Method and Analysis	302	(1)
Findings	302	(9)
Discussion	311	(4)
Conclusion	315	(6)
SECTION V: PRAGMATIC KNOWLEDGE, LEGAL REDRESSING, AND WOMEN'S SOLIDARITY
Charity, Ideology, and Exclusion: Continuities and Resistance in U.S. Welfare Reform	321	(26)
Yvonne Luna
Josefina Figueira-McDonough
Charity As Institutional Path Dependency	323	(2)
Ideological Reinforcement Through Communicative Discourse	325	(4)
Listening to Voices from Below	329	(8)
Convergence of Proposals	337	(10)
Women, the Law, and the Justice System: Neglect, Violence, and Resistance	347	(28)
Deborah LaBelle
The Cycle of Neglect Begins	349	(9)
Violence Inside	358	(4)
Resistance Through Litigation	362	(13)
Borders and Bridges: Building New Directions for the Women's Movement	375	(32)
Janet L. Finn
Introduction	375	(2)
Learning from History: A Short Story of the Accomplishments and Challenges of the Women's Movement	377	(5)
Confronting the Challenges	382	(10)
Food for Thought and Action	392	(15)
SECTION VI: ACTION STRATEGIES FOR TODAY
Whither the Twenty-First Century for Women at the Margins: Resistance and Action	407	(14)
Rosemary C. Sarri
Josefina Figueira-McDonough
Contemporary and Conflicting Roles	408	(2)
Recommendations for Action	410	(3)
Action Strategies	413	(8)
Index	421