Inventing the savage : the social construction of Native American criminality / by Luana Ross.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ross, Luana, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indian prisoners--Montana.

Indian prisoners.

Criminal justice, Administration of--Montana.

Criminal justice, Administration of.

Women prisoners--Montana.

Women prisoners.

Indian women--Montana--Social conditions.

Indian women.

Racism--Montana.

Racism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (327 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin, Texas : University of Texas Press, 1998.

Summary:

Luana Ross writes, "Native Americans disappear into Euro-American institutions of confinement at alarming rates. People from my reservation appeared to simply vanish and magically return. [As a child] I did not realize what a 'real' prison was and did not give it any thought. I imagined this as normal; that all families had relatives who went away and then returned." In this pathfinding study, Ross draws upon the life histories of imprisoned Native American women to demonstrate how race/ethnicity, gender, and class contribute to the criminalizing of various behaviors and subsequent incarceration rates. Drawing on the Native women's own words, she reveals the violence in their lives prior to incarceration, their respective responses to it, and how those responses affect their eventual criminalization and imprisonment. Comparisons with the experiences of white women in the same prison underline the significant role of race in determining women's experiences within the criminal justice system.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART I Colonization and the Social Construction of Deviance

One WORLDS COLLIDE NEW WORLD, NEW INDIANS

Two RACIALIZING MONTANA THE CREATION OF "BAD INDIANS" CONTINUES

PART II Creating Dangerous Women NARRATIVES OF IMPRISONED NATIVE AMERICAN AND WHITE WOMEN

Three PRISONER PROFILE PAST AND PRESENT

Four LIVES DICTATED BY VIOLENCE

Five EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN IN PRISON "THEY KEEP ME AT A LEVEL WHERE THEY CAN CONTROL ME"

Six REHABILITATION OR CONTROL "WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO DO? DESTROY ME?"

Seven PRISON SUBCULTURE "IT'S ALL A GAME AND IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME"

Eight MOTHERHOOD IMPRISONED IMAGES AND CONCERNS OF IMPRISONED MOTHERS

Nine DOUBLE PUNISHMENT WEAK INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR IMPRISONED MOTHERS

Ten REHABILITATION AND HEALING OF IMPRISONED MOTHERS

Eleven NARRATIVE OF A NATIVE WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE GLORIA WELLS NORLIN (KA MIN DI TAT)

EPILOGUE

APPENDIX: VIOLATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-292-75590-2

OCLC:

1286806674