Lori B. Girshick

No Safe Haven: Stories of Women in Prison by Lori B. Girshick

Incarcerated women in the United States are largely an invisible population because of their small numbers, their involvement in less violent and serious offenses, and their neglect by most criminologists. Yet all too often prison has become a dumping ground for women who lack options for self-support, or who need drug treatment, job training, or a haven from battering.

This work draws on the life stories of forty women inmates at a minimum security prison in North Carolina. It explores their lives before imprisonment, enabling the reader to understand their incarceration within the context of childhood and adolescent experiences, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, low education levels, and poor work histories. Lori B. Girshick relates the prisoners' views of doing time, the criminal justice system, and their own rehabilitation. She also interviews family members, friends, and social service providers to show how support networks function or fail.

Girshick argues convincingly that the treatment of women in society creates circumstances that lead some of them to break the law, and she makes specific recommendations for policies that address the need for social change and for community programs designed to deter crime.

Solidly grounded in feminist research methodology, this important and original work offers a fresh perspective on both women prisoners and the administration of criminal justice.

This work draws on the life stories of forty women inmates at a minimum security prison in North Carolina. It explores their lives before imprisonment, enabling the reader to understand their incarceration within the context of childhood and adolescent experiences, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, low education levels, and poor work histories. Lori B. Girshick relates the prisoners' views of doing time, the criminal justice system, and their own rehabilitation. She also interviews family members, friends, and social service providers to show how support networks function or fail. Girshick argues convincingly that the treatment of women in society creates circumstances that lead some of them to break the law, and she makes specific recommendations for policies that address the need for social change and for community programs designed to deter crime.

Biography

I have been a social justice activist for over 30 years who happens to be trained as a sociologist.

Organizations & Institutions

Warren Wilson College

Fields of Study

Published Works

My published work has been on women in prison, wives of inmates,  woman-to-woman sexual violence, and other issues related to domestic violence.

2002  "Bringing Your Past in with You: The Impact of Previous Abuse on Doing Time," in Technology of Gender Domination in Confined Places, B. Zaitzow & J. Thomas (Eds.), Lynne Reinner Publishers, forthcoming.

2002  "Leaving Stronger: Preparing to Return to Society," in Female Prisoners in the United States: Programming Needs, Availability and Efficacy, S. Sharpe (Ed.), Prentice-Hall, forthcoming.

2001  "Special Issues Regarding Same-Sex Domestic Violence," Violence Against Women Online Resources, forthcoming.

2001    "No more denying: Facing woman to woman sexual violence." Greenwich Village Gazette, April, 2001.(Available online)

2001  "Support for Battered Women in Prison," Fortune News, 36 (1), 10-11.

2001 Book review of Criminal Women by J. Pollock, Criminal Justice Review, 24 (2), 196-197.

2000  "No Safe Haven: WILPF Member Writes Book on Women in Prison," Peace & Freedom, November-December, 7.

1999 No Safe Haven: Stories of Women in Prison. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

1998 "The Importance of Using a Gendered Analysis to Understand Women in Prison," Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium, 4.

1994 "I Leave in the Dark of Morning." The Prison Journal, 73 (1), 93-97.

1993 "What Health Professionals Should Know About Domestic Violence." Reproductive Health Resources, 11 (1), 1,3.

1993 "Teen Dating Violence." Violence UpDate, 3 (12), 1-4,6.

1993 "Teen Dating Violence Program," ed., Support Network for Battered Women, 200 Blossom Lane, Mountain View, CA 94041

1983 "The Politics of Measuring Poverty Among the Elderly." In Applied Poverty Research. Richard Goldstein and Stephen Sachs, eds. New Jersey: Rowan & Allanheld, Publishers, 54-76 (with John B. Williamson) 

1982 "The Politics of Measuring Poverty Among the Elderly." In Applied Studies Journal (March), 483-499. (with John B. Williamson) 

1981 "The Measurement of Poverty: The Case of the Elderly." In Policy Issues for the Elderly Poor, Community Services Administration, Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 5-15. (with John B. Williamson)

Current Projects

I am finishing a book called Woman-to-Woman Sexual Violence: Does She Call it Rape?

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