Blog #15 - History of Men's and Women's Prisons

The prison system emerged as a result of industrialization and a rising free market economy that dramatically increased the wealth of some groups while worsening the poverty of others (Britton p. 24). There were rising rates of property crime. Early prison institutions contained all types of people; men, women, children, and the insane. From the beginning of the prison system, they have disproportionately held inmates of racial and ethnic groups and the poor (Britton p. 25). Two basic prison models existed in the early 1800’s, the Auburn plan and the Pennsylvania style. Under the Auburn plan, inmates worked during the day and confined to individual cells at night, while being completely silent. Both organizations organized their discipline around three central elements of separation, obedience, and labor. During this time, women criminals were “unlike their male counterparts, were beyond redemption, by nature corrupt, and outside the reach of the disciplinary regime of the penitentiary (Britton p. 27). Women were initially housed alongside men in the Auburn style prison and were kept in overcrowded, unventilated attics and were not allowed outside for work or exercise. Instead of doing manual labor, women were made to sew. Many scandals of inmates getting pregnant and having sexual relationships (which the women were held responsible for), occurred during this time and eventually separate facilities were established. Many of these prisons were run by a matron rather than a warden. Rehabilitative programs were not enforced fully until the late 19th century during the Reformatory movement. Separate institutions were justified under this movement because exploitation of women prisoners could be prevented and the opportunities for rehabilitation for both men and women enhanced. Currently, prisons lack rehabilitative ideology.

In Arizona, according to the state by state analysis, we are 7th ranked most punitive state for female imprisonment states. Imprisonment rates are rising dramatically, with a 62% growth rate between 1999-2004. Arizona’s history of prisons is similar to the history described in “At Work in the Iron Cage” because many of its first prisons contained both men and women. Many prisoners labored in Arizona prisons today much as they did in the beginning.

Blog #14 - Gendered Organization

The theory of gendered organization is that men and women hold different jobs, and the jobs women hold pay less than those that men occupy. Also, even when men and women are in the same occupation, women still make les (Britton p. 5). Britton uses this theory to frame her research by interviewing various women prison guards and why these gendered organizations exist, specifically within the prison system. By “doing gender”, men and women obtain different jobs or handle situations in the same job differently. For instance, one woman in “At Work in the Iron Cage” discusses how she uses her femininity to get the inmates to cooperate with her. By being sensitive and “fragile” as a woman, she knows that she can work these “female traits” to her advantage.

Structure, agency, and culture are interlinked in the process of organization gendering. Structure is the division between the public and private life of individuals. “Most modern work organizations presume that the labor involved in day-to-day reproduction of their workers may be relegated to the private realm, thus enacting a rigid separation between the work lives of their employees and such activities as childbirth, child care, sexuality, eating and sleeping (Acker 1992). While some employees provide benefits for these private needs they are often viewed as extra and women are frequently left with the responsibility of balancing both private and public spheres. The private and public spheres idea is a gendered one because of this. Women are often having to figure out ways to provide child care while they work, as we have learned in the previous unit. Many women work in clerical positions as a result since they rely on having a more flexible career. The woman’s nearly sole responsibility of family management prevents her from accepting promotions, working overtime, location transfers, and other opportunities that allow the employee to move up the hierarchical ladder at work. Labor laws and practices have had to be modified in order to accommodate these private life needs. Gendering through culture occurs through our social standard and the media. Films, TV shows, books, and various other sources of entertainment and media show men and women performing different roles. “The military, for example, has traditionally been viewed as a place where boys are turned into men, and this image has been reinforced ad nauseam in literally hundreds of war movies (Britton p. 12). Men are often viewed as solving issues through violence while “women police officers emphasize the benefits of defusing conflict” (Britton p. 14). Agency reinforces gendered organizations because they allow people to see themselves as appropriately gendered through their work. For instance, unions that are created to protect a gender right perpetuates gender inequality, even if that is not the intention.

Blog #13

The images of prison guards and correctional officers in the media are vastly different from reality. Britton writes that most prison guards are seen as “a hulking man in a uniform carrying a nightstick or even a gun.” The images of prisons and prison guards are largely gendered and inaccurate. In reality, correctional officers are always unarmed. These images reflect society’s ideas about gender and that violence is connected with masculinity. “Violence is closely tied to hegemonic forms of masculinity that to be a ‘real man’ is…to know how to use violence and to be willing to do so under appropriate circumstances.” (Britton p. 2). The image of the prison guard or correctional officer is one of masculinity and it is not common that women are encouraged to aspire to this type of career. “At work in the Iron Cage” also discusses how people view the prison guard by using examples of jobs that are commonly desirable to children. Britton talks about how it would be seen as worrisome if a small child were to say that he wanted to grow up to be a prison guard, and even more so out of the ordinary for a female child. The context of women in prisons shifts dramatically from that of men. There are few films that show women as being able to successfully manage prisoners and the majority of prison films involving women are sexual. “By mid-2002, there had been 91 “women’s prison” movies released as compared with 657 prison films (Britton p. 13). Women are also pushed into more clerical positions within the prison while men are responsible for handling the prisons. There are some differences between the images of male correctional officers in male prisons than those in female prisons. The men’s prisons are depicted as extremely violent while the women’s prisons are depicted as extremely sexual. In addition, female criminals were viewed by penologists and criminologists as much worse than male criminals (Britton p. 29). Men are considered the appropriate guardians for women criminals according to popular media. In today’s media, it is more common to see female police officers or prison guards, but the area remains predominantly one for men.

Occupational Segregation

Occupational segregation is the concept that some careers are “men’s careers” while other careers are “women’s careers”. Britton writes, “occupational segregation, that is, men and women are in different jobs, and the jobs women hold pay less, on average, than those that men occupy.” (p. 5). Occupational segregation has been cited as one of the primary factors contributing to women’s poverty and low-earnings. In addition, even when men and women do hold the same jobs, women are often paid less. Some explanations exist for why occupational segregation still exists. For instance, women tend to occupy the lowest rungs of the occupational ladder. Men and women are constantly “doing gender” by exercising practices that they have built on the notions of men and women. Men and women act with gendered characteristics and because we “do gender” this effects our job choices. Women often choose careers that will have more flexible hours so that they can balance their family lives. Britton writes how many women are not promoted to administrative positions because they often do not want the added responsibility of taking on more tasks and balancing a family. Social factors that contribute to occupational segregation would definitely be the notion that the woman is supposed to manage her children. Women are disadvantaged by having the responsibility of ensuring that the children have a place to go for care and often choose flexible jobs that will be understanding of those needs. Domestic responsibilities surely make it more difficult for women to become equal to men in occupational settings. Institutional factors include the idea that some jobs are for women. For instance, Britton writes, “Women paralegals for example, are often required to ‘mother’ attorneys, soothing their egos in the event of a loss in court, smoothing over the interpersonal conflicts they cause, and remaining calm even in the face of spectacularly bad behavior.” (p 17). I completely agree with this based on my own experience as a paralegal to three attorneys. I felt like I was constantly being someone’s mother and it was very difficult and frustrating at times. It was also how you were "expected" to be, so it was not seen as skill or appreciated within an office setting. One source offers an alternative of nontraditional careers as a pathway to escaping occupational segregation. Women gain certain advantages by entering male dominated occupations, such as, closing the gap of inequality. Women are also able to use their gendered skills to their advantage at times. Britton writes of a woman who used her skills as a woman to convince male inmates to cooperate with her more easily. Men gain by women entering into a male dominated occupation because they often do not receive equal benefits and, as mentioned earlier, men are much more likely to be promoted.

Blog #11

For another class, Cinema and Justice, I was required to watch “Norma Rae” starring Sally Field. This movie touched on numerous issues of justice, among those were women’s rights and one woman’s struggle to work, care for her kids, and still stand up for what she believed in. The film is about Norma Rae, a single mother with two children from two different fathers who works in a local factory. While the story is mainly about the struggle to establish a union for the textile workers, there are many underlying issues that address her struggle as a low income working mother. Norma Rae has no steady father figure for her children. She works constantly for extremely low wages and in awful working conditions. She lives in a society that is dominated by white males and has to prove herself as a strong person because she is a woman. Norma Rae is often stressed out and exhausted throughout the film because she is constantly juggling various responsibilities. From taking care of her children, to her eventual husband, to working, and to establishing a union, Norma Rae truly represents a woman’s struggle to balance work and home life. In one scene, her husband screams at her for not doing the cooking, cleaning, and tending to his sexual “needs”. In this scene however, Norma Rae screams back and basically just “cracks” and her husband and the audience realize how stressed out this woman is with her juggling act.

I think this movie adequately represents the daily life of a working woman, even if not all of them are attempting to start unions. There are always numerous stresses and responsibilities of a working mother that seem to leave them with very little time to actually rest or enjoy themselves. While I watched this film, I do remember thinking how unfair it is that on top of working, women are also bombarded with all of the household responsibilities. They are either expected to do it by their husbands and society, or they feel guilted into doing it because of society’s message that they are a woman’s chores and responsibility. I thought about what was discussed in previous blogs and how women are juggling far more responsibilities than men, because when they get home from work there is plenty more waiting for them inside the home. In the women’s stories in “Putting Children First”, you can tell that these woman feel the strain of these similar everyday struggles.

Blog #9

The National Center for Children outlines the various poverty levels of children in the United States. There are currently 13 million American families below the poverty line. There has been an 11 percent increase between 2000 and 2005 of children living in poverty. The official poverty line is a yearly income of $20,000.00 for a family of four. A low income family is considered a family of four earning $40,000.00 annually. This official poverty level is obviously flawed, as we have seen through Chaudry’s book and other evidence that it is impossible for a family of four to live realistically off of these low wages. Nationwide 18 percent of children are living in families that are considered poor. The state with the highest child poverty rate is Mississippi with 27 percent. Arizona falls into the 20 percent or more category on the provided chart. Child poverty is especially prevalent in black, latinos, and American Indians. Black children have the highest poverty level at 35 percent while white children are at 10 percent. In addition, the statistics point out that having immigrant parents increases chances of being poor.

The National Center for Children lists the economic hardships that are faced by children in poverty which include: lack of affordable housing, lack of health insurance, food insecurity, and other economic hardships. These conditions have a direct relationship between children and a working, poor woman. Both women and children alike experience this lack of security. If a mother cannot adequately provide for her family, no matter how hard she tries, her children will also live in poverty. A working mother cannot often make ends meet and has to constantly struggle from paycheck to paycheck. It is a viscous cycle of never being able to get ahead in life. Children who grow up in poverty do not receive as good an education as other children and it is much more difficult for them to move up out of their “class”. The National Center for Children in describing the hardships faced by children, is also describing the hardships of all people who are considered the “working poor”.

Blog #8

Urban poverty includes joblessness, decrease in real estate and an increase in abandonment, and loss of legitimate enterprise. More males are in jail which mean more women need to work and provide for their children and are often forced to use welfare resources. The school systems in areas of urban poverty are very poor and do not offer high levels of education. The consequences of urban poverty include violence, self-medication through drug use, increased isolation and dim hope. These consequences strongly affect single mothers because it seems as if it is simply impossible for them to rise out of their economic situations. They lack the resources, support, and education that it takes to actually better their lives. The children of these mother’s are negatively affected by the lack of a positive male role model in their lives and often mother’s experience worries that their children are going to become pregnant, violent, or drug users. In chapter four of “Putting Children First”, Traci experienced the absence of her children’s father when he was incarcerated twice for drug related charges. Traci actually thanks God that he did sell drugs because she says that if he had not, her family would likely not have survived without the drug money income. However, she does not want him to get involved with drugs again because she use to worry about the safety of her family. Traci wishes that her children will not live the same life that she has had to. Traci expresses guilt that she wishes she would have gotten married before having kids or gone to college.

Poor women living in mixed income neighborhoods face less concerns than those living in urban poverty. The crime rate in a mixed income neighborhood is likely going to be less and the school systems better. In a mixed income neighborhood, characteristics suck as drug use and violence are going to be less prevalent.