Women in Prison in the 1990s: A Temporal and Institutional Comparison

This study explores the attitudes, perceptions and experiences of women in two prisons in California. The study includes both a temporal component comparing women's experiences in one prison in the early 1960s and the mid-1990s, and a comparative institutional component, comparing women's experiences in two different prisons operating in the social and policy milieu of the mid-1990s. It analyzes surveys of inmates and secondary data collected from official records, archives, and an earlier study of women in prison in California. The study portrayed women's reactions to prison as a function of (1) inmates' pre-prison characteristics, (2) characteristics of inmates' prison careers, (3) institutional structures and processes, (4) crime control ideologies and policies, (5) public attitudes toward crime and criminals, and (6) women's roles, opportunities, and lifestyles in the wider society. Closed-ended questions were developed for the survey designed to measure (1) the most difficult aspects of doing time, (2) the specific problems of prison life, (3) the various types of inmates and inmate relations, and (4) the nature of inmate-staff relations. The survey also included questions based on measures and scales used in penology research and the survey initially administered by Ward and Kassebaum to women prisoners in the 1960s. Demographic questions included age, ethnicity, if born in the United States, length of residence in the United States, marital status, and education.

本研究聚焦加利福尼亚州两所监狱内女性服刑人员的态度、认知与经历。研究包含两类对比维度：一是时间维度，对比1960年代早期与1990年代中期同一所监狱中女性服刑人员的服刑经历；二是制度比较维度，对比1990年代中期社会与政策语境下，两所不同运营监狱内女性服刑人员的经历。研究分析了服刑人员调查问卷数据，以及从官方档案、档案馆藏资料及此前一项加利福尼亚州女性监狱服刑人员研究中获取的二手数据。本研究将女性对监狱环境的反应归因于六大影响因素：(1) 服刑人员入狱前的个人特征；(2) 服刑人员的监狱生涯特征；(3) 监狱制度结构与运行流程；(4) 犯罪控制意识形态与政策；(5) 公众对犯罪及罪犯的态度；(6) 女性在更广泛社会中的角色、机遇与生活方式。本次调查问卷设计了封闭式问题，用于测量：(1) 服刑期间最具挑战性的方面；(2) 监狱生活的具体困境；(3) 不同类型服刑人员及其群体关系；(4) 服刑人员与狱务人员的关系本质。问卷还纳入了刑罚学（penology）研究中常用的测量工具与量表相关题目，以及复刻沃德（Ward）与卡斯鲍姆（Kassebaum）1960年代针对女性监狱服刑人员的初始调研问卷题目。人口统计学问题涵盖年龄、族裔、是否在美国出生、美国居住时长、婚姻状况及受教育程度。