Inner Lives

The rate of women entering prison has increased nearly 400 percent since 1980, with African American women constituting the largest percentage of this population. However, despite their extremely disproportional representation in correctional institutions, little attention has been paid to the actual experiences of African American women within the criminal justice system. Inner Lives provides readers with a rare portrait of African American women prisoners. By presenting the women's stories in their own voices, Paula C. Johnson captures the reality of those who are in the system and those who are working to help them. Inner Lives offers a nuanced and compelling portrait of the fastest-growing demographic group by blending legal history, ethnography, sociology, and criminology. These striking and vivid narratives are accompanied by Johnson's equally gripping arguments on how to reform our nation's laws and social policies in order to eradicate existing inequalities. By pairing careful analysis with firsthand accounts. Inner Lives presents important new insights into the criminal justice system.