Relational Violence in Women's Prison: How Women Describe Interpersonal Violence and Gender

Abstract

Using data from interviews with former female inmates, I focus on how women describe aggression and violence in prison. Interviewees outline the connection between prison violence, gender, and interpersonal relationships. Similar to in previous studies on adolescent girls, women describe ostracism and rumors as a form of aggression. Furthermore, they detail how some inmates fight over correctional officers as the only men in their lives. I define this form of aggression as relational violence, which is commonly described as adolescent behavior. This article broadens the current work on gender and inmate conflict by focusing on violence used by adult female offenders. Moreover, it extends understanding of inmate culture by allowing interviewees to verbally construct the social reality of prison violence from their perspective to evaluate how they connect violence to gender roles.

KEYWORDS:

• correctional officer abuse
• gender
• incarcerated women
• prison families
• relational violence

I would like to thank the female parolees who agreed to be interviewed for this study. Valerie Jenness and Belinda Robnett offered valuable feedback on these data and critiqued earlier versions of this manuscript. Finally, I thank the editor of Women & Criminal Justice, Frances Bernat, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable and insightful comments on this manuscript.