Inner Lives - by Paula Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

Interviews with African American women in prison.

Book Synopsis

An intimate collection of African American women's voices on their lives in prison

The rate of women entering prison has increased nearly 400 percent since 1980, with African American women constituting the largest percentage of this population. However, despite their extremely disproportional representation in correctional institutions, little attention has been paid to their experiences within the criminal justice system.

Inner Lives provides readers the rare opportunity to intimately connect with African American women prisoners. By presenting the women's stories in their own voices, Paula C. Johnson captures the reality of those who are in the system, and those who are working to help them. Johnson offers a nuanced and compelling portrait of this fastest-growing prison population by blending legal history, ethnography, sociology, and criminology. These striking and vivid narratives are accompanied by equally compelling arguments by Johnson on how to reform our nation's laws and social policies, in order to eradicate existing inequalities. Her thorough and insightful analysis of the historical and legal background of contemporary criminal law doctrine, sentencing theories, and correctional policies sets the stage for understanding the current system.

Review Quotes

"Inner Lives soars when the women are allowed to speak for themselves."-- "Book"

"Johnson gives these women visibility and voice as they relate their lives, their crimes, and their efforts to remain connected to families and communities . . . powerful."-- "Booklist"

"Johnson illuminates how the race and gender of African American women affect how they are treated in the American criminal justice system."-- "The Womens Review of Books"

"Johnson provides a historical look at African American women in the U.S. criminal justice system from the colonial period to the present."-- "Law's Social Inquiry"

"Johnsons Inner Lives provides both a serious intervention in the literature on prisons and a venue through which incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black women can speak for themselves. It challenges readers to take action."-- "Black Renaissance"