Women Disrupting a Marginalized Identity: Subverting the Parolee Identity through Narrative

This article uses in-depth interviews to examine the identity work of forty-three women newly released from prison who live in their communities under the supervision of parole. Drawing on hegemonic cultural characters and storylines, the women utilize three narrative strategies that provide them with an opportunity to confront their stigmatized identity and recast their past, present, and future selves on their own terms. By resisting the stigma associated with a felon identity, disassociating from their past drug- and alcohol-using selves, and identifying as good mothers, the women refashion and reaffirm their identities by aligning with conventionality.