In the Mix: Struggle and Survival in a Women's Prison

Barbara Owen’s “In the Mix” Struggle and Survival in a Women’s Prison will appeal to anyone with an interest in corrections, gender, and criminality. The book is a descriptive study par excellence. It is a rich compilation of accounts and experiences in the lives of women at the nation’s largest prison for women, the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF). As part of her 3-year study, Owen interviewed some 294 women prisoners as well as many staff members and administrators and spent countless hours observing or “hanging around.” In chapter 2, she characterizes her research as “quasi-ethnography,” recognizing that there were many barriers to full immersion into the prison setting, including restricted access to the private areas of the prison and limitations on the amount of time spent as an “outsider” and not a participant. She also incorporated a feminist perspective in her research, conceptualizing female criminal behavior as an expression of economic and social marginalization and patriarchy. The introductory chapter discusses the classic works on women in prison. The pioneer studies of Ward and Kassenbaum (1965), Giallombardo (1966), and Heffernan (1972) are used to provide a foundation for her exploration of the lives of the women in her study. Owen found that the profile of women prisoners at CCWF has changed very little from that of women incarcerated decades ago. They are still impoverished, unemployed or underemployed, and undereducated, with a history of sexual, emotional, and/or physical abuse. They are also more likely to be incarcerated for a nonviolent offense and for it to be a first offense. The only difference may be the increasing numbers of drug offenders in contemporary times. Owen also discovered that women’s prison culture has changed very little from the culture of Ward and Kassenbaum’s (1965) Frontera, Giallombardo’s (1966) Alderson, and Heffernan’s (1972) Occaquan. Interpersonal relationships are still the anchors of prison culture, and social roles and family structures have changed little. Chapter 5 describes the relationships that define and reflect prison culture: relationships with children and family on the outside, relationships with other female prisoners, and relationships with prison staff members.