Abstract
I have thought for some time now that issues of mass incarceration demand a place in both undergraduate and graduate social work education. Given that current policy texts cover that subject inadequately if at all, books like Beth Richie’s Arrested Justice and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness jump to the fore as essential social work reading.
The profession’s historic and contemporary intersections with issues of incarceration are numerous—and important. Dorothea Dix’s early stand against the imprisonment of persons with mental illness; Jane Addams’ and other progressive leaders’ role in the establishment of juvenile courts; early social workers’ interest in humanizing women’s prisons; the profession’s role in the internment of Japanese Americans; and our persistent support of justice for women experiencing domestic violence—all provide rich and ethically complex historical moments for social work students to critically examine. Today, social workers practice widely in the criminal justice system, in schools and communities where issues of incarceration, drugs, and violence are numerous, and with populations deeply impacted by them.
Beth Richie in Arrested Justice brilliantly takes on an analysis of the relationship between white supremacy, class exploitation, and gender inequality in the context of the buildup of America’s “prison nation.” The notion of a prison nation, Richie writes, “reflects the ideological and public policy shifts that have led to the increased criminalization of disenfranchised communities of color, more aggressive strategies for norm-violating behavior, and an undermining of civil and human rights of marginalized groups” (p. 3).
Richie’s critical contribution to this now widely accepted analysis of what is happening in the United States lies in her brilliant analysis of how, on one hand, certain groups of women, namely those who have more power, benefited from the “ideological shifts associated with the buildup of the prison nation,” and consequently are safer in 2012 than they were 25 years ago, while others, especially African American women, are considerably less safe. Her chapter, “How We Won the Mainstream But Lost the Movement,” tracks the process by which “issues of race and class got lost in the battle to win mainstream support and resources for victim services” (p. 19), essential reading for feminists in social work. Richie challenges the current antiviolence movement’s uncritical positioning around state policy and punitive interventions which she argues have contributed to the ongoing escalation of male violence against black women.
The extent, level, and clarity of research and analysis in Arrested Justice suit it beautifully for use in the classroom. Well written, well organized, and grounded in black feminist theory, the book is filled to overflowing with compelling stories of individual women, thorough reviews of the literature, statistics, critical analysis, and examples of resistance. It is a book that researchers, students, and practitioners alike will find invaluable to their work.