A rise in governmentality, the development of the risk society and shifts in cultural sensibilities have all been used to explain recent trends in crime control and penal policies most notably in the USA and in England and Wales. Despite the importance of this discourse, we see it as flawed in two respects: (1) it has left the experiences of those who are living out these transformations on the sidelines; and (2) when these experiences are addressed, attention is directed primarily to the experiences of male offenders. We examine indicators of the mental health of 2911 women held in two prisons in California and three prisons in England to determine whether and how different aspects of prison life and prisoners’ experiences affect their well-being and whether generalities about transnational changes in penal life are warranted.
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