Racializing Pregnancies: Retrospective Thoughts among Former Pregnant Inmates concerning Race Relations in Prison

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

This exploratory research addresses race relations among former pregnant inmates by qualitatively employing in-depth interviews with former inmates who were pregnant while imprisoned in various localities across the U.S., in order to capture the thoughts and behaviors that pregnant inmates experienced leading up to labor regarding race. These retrospective narratives suggest the importance of race, as a clear racial hierarchy exists in prison, which places Whites at the top of the social order, while racial and ethnic minorities are placed at the bottom of this social order thereby resulting in self-segregation. Moreover, this research explores how hyper-incarceration is enacted in the color-blind era, while illustrating how traditional cultural scripts regarding the “good pregnant mother” paradigm largely resemble a White middle-class perspective thereby presenting immense difficulties for women of color. Findings indicate that among the White women in this study, race was nearly invisible or yielded reverse discrimination. Contrarily, among the women of color participants, race posed considerable difficulties, while pregnant. This research warrants attention because current estimates indicate that minority women are disproportionately incarcerated, and pregnant women represent 6-10% of the female prisoner population.

Author

• Rebecca Rodriguez Carey, University of Missouri