Women's Incarceration: A Historical Analysis

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There is a historical problem of male supremacy over women that has been ignored; consequently, gender plays a big role in understanding women’s incarceration. Angela Davis provides historical evidence in regards to gender inequality like women’s punishment during 1820 to 1870 (Davis, 2003). She writes, “Male punishment was linked ideologically to penitence and reform…of rights and liberties that with self-reflection, religious study, and work, male convicts could achieve redemption and could recover these rights and liberties” (Davis, 2003, p. 70). While incarcerated women were not acknowledged to be secured with rights. Women have been subordinated by men for years, and life inside prison is uniquely different for women. The treatment women

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