NCJ Number
134098
Journal
Odyssey Dated: (Fall 1991) Pages: 6-17
Date Published
1991
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Founded more than a century ago, the women's prison at Framingham (Massachusetts) underwent a series of transformations that reflect society's changing perceptions of women, morality, and crime.
Abstract
Women have been evaluated according to different standards of conduct. The formulation of laws have codified these inequalities. For example, women were sentenced to as much as 5 years in prison for cohabitation or adultery well into the 1950s, whereas men received no punishment for participation in these "crimes." Women were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for vagrancy or charged as "common beggars" in spite of the fact that women were systematically denied access to employment opportunities solely because of their gender. The history of Framingham prison is a reminder that law reflects the values, interests, and demands of those who possess power. Until society is willing to address the systemic causes of crime, prisons will be places where women and minorities will continue to feel the full weight of socially-condoned and legally-condoned injustice. 20 footnotes