NCJ Number
232711
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 27 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2010 Pages: 835-866
Date Published
December 2010
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This article presents results of research that examined the situation of transgender inmates in California prisons.
Abstract
Drawing on official data and original interview data on 315 transgender inmates in California prisons for men, this research provides the first empirical portrayal of a prison population in California that is unique by virtue of being both transgender and incarcerated. Situated at the nexus of intersecting marginalities, transgender inmates fare far worse on standard demographic and health measures than their non-transgender counterparts in the U.S. population, the California population, the U.S. prison population, and the California prison population. With the possible exceptions of partnership status and educational attainment, these factors combine to reveal that transgender inmates are marginalized in heretofore undocumented ways. At a time in which an evidence-based approach to corrections is increasingly embraced by corrections officials in the United States, this article provides the first systematic profile of transgender prisoners. It reveals they can be regarded as a special population that, from a policy point of view, raises what Minow calls "the dilemma of difference." Tables and references (Published Abstract)