Patriarchy, Prisons, and Jails: A Critical Look at Trends in Women's Incarceration*

Part of the challenge of doing feminist criminology is seeking ways to blend feminism, which in my view includes activism, with attempts to make sense of the law, crime, justice and the state. This orientation has led me, in the last few years, into work that lays the intellectual foundation for the decarceration of girls and women labeled as offenders. One reason I feel comfortable suggesting such a strategy on a national level is that 1 am living in a part of the United States that employed a non-incarcerative response to women's crime for many years.