Abstract
If we are looking for it, we can find ourselves at a crossroads or juncture in our society where history, current context, dialogue, and tragedy are coming together in ways that can provide openings for change. We have opportunities to break free from our societal blinders that have kept us entrenched in disparate conditions that inequitably impact women, racial and ethnic minorities, and those who are forced to live in poverty. One positive contemporary development is the heightened awareness of violence within our communities concerning those who are involved with the criminal justice system. What we see in the news, through our own lived experience, or the sharing of others is not new. What is different is the increased public dialogue around incidents and practices that make space for critical voices and the conscious, collective demand for reform in juvenile and adult institutions that make up the criminal justice matrix.
The fifth edition of Women and the criminal justice system: Gender, race, and class is overflowing with information that can be utilized for understanding the history, mindset, policies, and systems that undergird our present societal systems. The main premise of this text is that “gender matters” (p. xxii). It might be tempting to leave the conversation here, but we should not. Merely acknowledging this reality dismisses opportunities for change and understanding for individuals, families, and systems. Without fully accepting and looking more deeply at this theme, we would be complicit in perpetuating ineffective and harmful practices for women and girls who are involved directly in the criminal justice system, as well as those who work with, live with, and are touched by these women.
Van Wormer and Bartollas systematically and overwhelmingly provide excellent examples, data, and evidence to support their thesis that various aspects of our criminal justice system are ineffective and even harmful to women. The book is filled with statistics, examples of evidence-based practices, models that have been shown to be effective, relevant websites, and areas for continued improvement and suggestions for change. Whether women and girls are involved with the criminal justice system as victims, perpetrators, or through diverse professions, the impact of this system is lasting. We as individuals across genders, races, classes, castes, and/or professions are duty-bound to understand the long-term impact of systemic criminal injustice and to seek major change.
Beginning with theory, the book's foundation sets the frame for the remainder of the book that systematically moves through the topics of: 1) females and crime, including both women and girls; 2) programs within the criminal justice system designed specifically for females; and 3) shifts in patterns of and responses to delinquency across the female lifespan. Throughout the chapters, the reader is repeatedly reminded that the impact on women and girls is also influenced by race, class, and gender identity. This intersectionality compounds an already complex system.
The text continues by focusing more directly on what is known about women, substance use, and the criminal justice system. Biological, psychological, and societal aspects are each analyzed in turn to probe the role that each plays for women who have histories of substance use. Treatment for substance abuse is also discussed and, again, relevant websites, evidence-based practices, and recommendations are made available to the reader based on those treatments’ promise as emergent or established harm reduction approaches.
The text continues with the subject of prison and prison environments that broadly and specifically affect women. The book's historical contextualization of incarceration helps to frame the current context of jails and prisons with reference to prisoners’ families, sexuality, healthcare, abuse, and programs that are innovative. After incarceration there is, naturally, a focus on re-entry and the gender-specific concerns related to finances, psychological risk factors, and family connections. Restorative practices specific to female victims and offenders are also discussed. The reader is then asked to see women through the lenses of victim and survivor. The text concludes with the role of women as professionals, specifically in law enforcement, legal realms, and corrections. This book is ideally written for those who educate, work with, and/or want to better understand the role that gender plays—for better and for worse—in the criminal justice system.
Women and the criminal justice system: Gender, race, and class is a powerful text that provides depth and breadth to the role of gender in the criminal justice system. This insightful and sophisticated view can inform and shape the roles we choose when advocating for change across systems. As professionals, as social workers, and as educators, or in any other relevant and overlapping realm, we can join with those who are calling for change by harnessing the ideas, guidance, and suggestions in this text through supporting, encouraging, and promoting holistic and intentional transformation in the ways in which women and girls take part in the criminal justice system. Ethically we must stand up and call for more just, transparent, and humane practices, regulations, and laws within criminal justice institutions and legislation. This book provides a wealth of information to inform our call for and movement toward substantive and procedural change.
