Abstract
In July, the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act (2017) was introduced to the U.S. Senate. This Act focuses on the treatment of women in federal prisons, including provisions for visitation rights for women with children, treatment of pregnant inmates, and the right to feminine hygiene products during menstruation. The proposed changes may seem common sense; however, Lora Lempert’s Women Doing Life emphasizes the reality that such provisions are often overlooked or treated as commodities within prison. This aspect of prison life is only part of what Lempert’s book encompasses with its detailed, nuanced, and often emotional examination of how women who are serving life sentences physically and mentally deal with the realities of prison.
Through life cycle interviews, focus groups, and diaries, Lempert synthesizes the experiences of 72 women serving life sentences in Michigan. Through an individualized lens, Lempert provides a detailed and well-rounded exploration of prison life, expertly transitioning from articulate analyses of criminological, sociological, and psychological research to interweaving the women’s own words into the text. The combination of an academic perspective coupled with the immersion into the women’s own experiences offers a unique analysis on key aspects of these women’s lives, such as transitioning into prison and navigating the “mix” of the prison environment. Lempert also explores the complex and sometimes counterintuitive ways that the women cope with the realities of a life sentence, including how they find meaning in daily life, their views concerning race and ethnicity, and their perceptions of the tenuous and often adversarial relationship with prison administrators and guards. Most important, however, Lempert details how these women come to self-actualize and reform their own identities in the challenges of life imprisonment.
By intermixing theoretically content-heavy chapters with chapters devoted to individual women, Lempert makes this a very accessible book for both students and academics. Given the markedly smaller pool of research on women in prison, as compared to men (Belknap, 2015), this book provides a welcome feminist perspective on prison life that illuminates the pitfalls of using male-specific policies, such as how guards are trained and the use of ill-fitting male uniforms for women prisoners. The book can easily be utilized as a supplement for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses examining gender, corrections, and the legal system. By highlighting the experiences of the women themselves, Lempert offers myriad points of critical analysis and discussion on how society’s flawed and dehumanizing view of prisoners affects not only policy but also the women themselves. The book ends with a discussion of where to go from here and what policy changes can or should be made based on the experiences of the women. This discussion seems vital after reading the narratives within the book, but it felt lacking in depth as compared to the other chapters.
It is only now that legislation concerning the dignity of women in prison is being brought up for debate; it seems imperative to remind us, at this time, that in forming policies and laws, we must not lose focus on all parties involved. Lempert does a fantastic job in Women Doing Life of emphasizing the individual experiences of the women, not only bringing attention to the strength of the women navigating life in prison, but also providing a framework for understanding prison life and the policies that need to be reconsidered to secure their dignity is maintained.