Criminalized Care: Disability, Incarceration, and Motherhood Behind Bars

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Families, Social Bonds, and Criminal Justice

Abstract

Mass incarceration in the United States has long operated at the intersection of racism, ableism, and misogyny. Nowhere is this more evident than in the treatment of disabled women, particularly those who are pregnant, within prisons and jails. This presentation explores how the criminalization of disability and reproduction plays out in carceral settings, often resulting in trauma, neglect, and systemic harm. Using an intersectional framework, the project traces how marginalized identities shape women’s experiences of incarceration and how the justice system continues to punish survival rather than protect life. Stories of women shackled during childbirth, denied medication, or separated from their newborns serve as the foundation for a broader critique of how we define justice, care, and human rights. Addressing these issues is not just a matter of policy, it is a matter of justice.

Author

• Kristina Marie Cooper, Southern Connecticut State University