Destructive Constructions: Intersections of Race and Gender Among Women Ex-Offenders’ Perceptions of Criminal Justice System Treatment

• In Event: Impact of Race and Gender on Criminal Justice Outcomes

Abstract

Race and gender are argued to be socially constructed. In other words, perceptions of race and gender occur through a fundamentally social process, and part of this process is the attribution of meaning based on how appearance is “read.” Stereotypes attached to outward appearance can reinforce inequalities and justify oppressive or damaging treatment against non-dominant groups. Such imagery takes on unique significance when considering the “intersectionality” of race and gender as it emerges in institutions like the criminal justice system. For example, the criminalization of women of color relates to stereotypes that continue to de-emphasize problematic or illegal behaviors of White, middle class women and girls, and demonize those of Black women and girls. Women of color are vastly over-represented in arrest and incarceration rates. However, there is a dearth of information about how the women themselves perceive the relevance of their race and gender to their system treatment. Through qualitative, in-depth interviews with women ex-offenders recently released from incarceration and currently in a re-entry assistance program, this study investigates the participants’ perceptions of how race and gender meanings affected their treatment within the criminal justice apparatus. Ultimately, many described direct implications for their criminal justice treatment.

Author

• Jennifer K. Wesely, University of North Florida