1st Edition
Women at the Margins Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance
A compelling look at the crisis of disadvantaged women This powerful document takes a sobering look at the phenomenon of marginalized women pushed to the edges of society, holding on with the barest of hope and extraordinary bravery. Handicapped by the increasing societal inequality they face as an everyday fact of life, these women (and in many cases, their children) have been disconnected from the mainstream for reasons of age, race, gender, health, incarceration, domestic abuse, unwanted pregnancy, unemployment, and economic circumstance. They are poor in an affluent society, powerless in a powerful nation, and the suffering caused by their exclusion is poignant and troubling.Eloquently illustrated with poetry, art, and prose created by marginalized women, Women at the Margins: Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance makes a compelling argument for social change. The book offers a no-holds-barred look at how economic restructuring, welfare reform, neo-conservative ideology, and institutional exclusion have locked women into subservient, substandard roles, stripping them of their citizenship and rendering them expendable. Diverse authors track the life cycle of marginalized women, from teenage pregnancy to the lonliness of older women in poverty or prison.Women at the Margins: Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance addresses:
- the effects of welfare reform
- the forgotten group: women in prison and jail
- low-income women and housing
- women marginalized by substance abuse, poverty, and incarceration
- teenage pregnancy
- children and their incarcerated mothers
- recidivism and reintegration
- women, law, and the justice system
- and much more!Women at the Margins: Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance acknowledges the long history of the inequality faced by women living in exclusion but focuses on the present with a hopeful but realistic eye toward the future. It is an indispensible resource for sociology, social work, legal and penal system professionals, and academics, and an essential read for everyone.
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction to Art and Women at the Margins
- Why Art?
- Chapter 1. Increasing Inequality: The Ascendancy of Neoconservatism and Institutional Exclusion of Poor Women
- The Laissez-Faire Myth, the Neoconservatives, and the Liberal Model of Welfare
- The American Gulag: Extending the Net of Control
- The Added Oppression of Women Behind Bars
- Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance of Marginalized Women
- Section I: Increasing the Dual Control of Women and Distorting Their Strength
- Chapter 2. Welfare Reform: Tightening the Screws
- Welfare in “Crisis”: 1960s-1996
- The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)
- The Work-First Strategy
- The Future
- Chapter 3. The Forgotten Group: Women in Prisons and Jails
- Introduction
- Background
- Women and Crime
- Behavior and Attitudes of Women in Prison
- History of the Incarceration of Women
- Characteristics of Female Offenders
- Conclusions and Recommendations
- Chapter 4. The Storm Is Passing Over: Marginalized African-American Women
- African Cultural Legacies
- Demographic Changes
- Family Structure
- Roles of Males in Families
- Marginalization and Urban Sprawl
- The Passing Storm
- Section II: Blockages to Autonomy
- Chapter 5. The Controllers and the Controlled
- The Controllers and the Controlled in Political-Economic Context
- Forms and Context of Control
- Policy Framework of Control: Personal Responsibility and TANF
- Practice Framework of Control: Welfare Workers and Welfare Recipients
- Policy Framework of Control: The Get-Tough Policy
- Practice Framework of Control: Relations Between Guards and Prisoners
- Prospects for the Future
- Chapter 6. Welfare Reform Now That We Know It: Enforcing Women’s Poverty and Preventing Self-Sufficency
- The Centrality of Motherhood and Family Preservation
- Mothers, Work, and Welfare: Not a New Combination
- The Impact of the 1996 Welfare Reform: Work Requirements and Time Limits
- Evaluating the Economic Resources of Families Post-Welfare
- Chapter 7. Low-Income Women and Housing: Where Will They Live?
- Roots of the Crisis: Structural and Personal Factors
- Affordable Housing Programs
- The Housing Affordability Squeeze
- Housing Is a Women’s Issue
- Section III: Gender, Age, and Health Interactions
- Chapter 8. Triple Jeopardy: Women Marginalized by Substance Abuse, Poverty, and Incarceration
- Introduction
- Vicious Cycles and Downward Spirals
- Substance Use and Abuse Among Women: Closing the Gender Gap
- Differences in the “Addiction Careers” of Men and Women
- Policies of Neglect and Punishment Toward Women with Substance Abuse Problems
- Bringing an End to Vicious Cycles and Downward Spirals
- Finding the Will to Change Women’s Lives
- Chapter 9. Life at the Margins: Older Women Living in Poverty
- Demographic Trends for the Aging Female Population
- The Gender of Poverty in America’s Aging Population
- Aging in Prison: Focus on the Older Female Prisoner
- Special Needs of the Older Female Prisoner
- The Older Woman Offender and Recidivism
- Conclusion
- Chapter 10. Teenage Pregnancy: Mediating Rotten Outcomes and Improving Opportunities
- Teenage Motherhood in the United States
- Attitudes, Values, and Economics
- Theoretical Interpretations
- The Conflict of Developmental Issues and Policy
- Teenage Mothers and Welfare Reform
- Teenagers’ Prenatal Care Access: An Arizona Study
- Support Services for Teenage Parents
- Recommendation for Change to Health and Social Policy
- Section IV: Bad Women, Undeserving Mothers
- Chapter 11. Controlled and Excluded: Reproduction and Motherhood Among Poor and Imprisoned Women
- The Links: No Safe Place
- Excessive Punishment: The Sex and Gender Ta
Biography
J Dianne Garner, Rosemary Sarri, Josefina Figueira-Mcdonough
