Candace Kruttschnitt 3/23/00
Women's Responses to Prison

Kruttschnitt, Candace, Gartner, Rosemary, and Amy Miller. 2000. "Doing Her Own Time?
Women's Responses to Prison in the Context of the Old and New Penology."
Criminology


Theory. This project uses qualitative analysis to examine how women do time in prison and to determine whether individual variations in doing time are similar across very different institutions. The researchers began with three central theories in penology. For instance, functionalist theory assumes that the fundamentally coercive character of total institutions will invoke similar responses from inmates, regardless of the differences in the characteristics of the institutions in which they are housed. According to situational functionalist theory, however, the nature of inmates' responses will depend on institutional characteristics. In contrast, the importation model emphasizes the importance of the inmates' prior characteristics, rather than the fact of being in an institution or characteristics of the institution.

Design. The study follows the methodology used by Ward and Kassebaum in their 1965 study of a women's prison in California. Instead of beginning with a pre-designed survey, the researchers conducted interviews first. The survey was designed later and was based on the results of the interviews.

Measurement. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of 70 female inmates housed in two penal facilities in California. The interviews were structured around four open-ended questions: (1) What is it like doing time? (2) What is the hardest thing about doing time? (3) What are the relationships like that inmates have with one another? And (4) what are the relationships like between staff and inmates?

Data Analysis. The interviews were transcribed into Atlas/ti. Using this method for qualitative analysis, the researchers developed a coding scheme that was guided by constructs. The constructs, which were developed in their research and from reviews of the literature, included women's attitudes, experiences, and perceptions concerning doing time.

Interpretation. The researchers conclude that there are profound institutional effects. They concur with the situational functionalists; where one does time has a big impact on how one does time.

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