At work in the iron cage : the prison as gendered organization / Dana M. Britton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Britton, Dana M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Correctional personnel--United States.

Correctional personnel.

Correctional personnel--Training of--United States.

Prisons--United States.

Prisons.

Prisons--Officials and employees--United States.

Criminal justice, Administration of--United States.

Criminal justice, Administration of.

Women correctional personnel--United States.

Women correctional personnel.

Inmate guards--United States.

Inmate guards.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (273 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When most people think of prisons, they imagine chaos, violence, and fundamentally, an atmosphere of overwhelming brute masculinity. But real prisons rarely fit the “Big House” stereotype of popular film and literature. One fifth of all correctional officers are women, and the rate at which women are imprisoned is growing faster than that of men. Yet, despite increasing numbers of women prisoners and officers, ideas about prison life and prison work are sill dominated by an exaggerated image of men’s prisons where inmates supposedly struggle for physical dominance. In a rare comparative analysis of men’s and women’s prisons, Dana Britton identifies the factors that influence the gendering of the American workplace, a process that often leaves women in lower-paying jobs with less prestige and responsibility. In interviews with dozens of male and female officers in five prisons, Britton explains how gender shapes their day-to-day work experiences. Combining criminology, penology, and feminist theory, she offers a radical new argument for the persistence of gender inequality in prisons and other organizations. At Work in the Iron Cage demonstrates the importance of the prison as a site of gender relations as well as social control.

Contents:

Engendering the prison

Penolgy in America : men's and women's prisons as gendered projects

From turnkey to officer : prison work in historical perpective

Paths to prison

Work with inmates

The rest of the job : coworkers, supervisors, and satisfaction.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 244-256) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jun 2020)

ISBN:

0-8147-2308-X

1-4175-8816-0

OCLC:

782878112