CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Feintuch, Sophie Beth |
|---|---|
| Title | Power, Perceptions, and Incarceration: An Analysis of Spain's New External Units for Imprisoned Mothers and Children |
| Summary | This thesis offers a qualitative analysis of Spain‘s new external mother units, which emerged in 2008 to house incarcerated mothers and their young children. While Spain already allowed young children to live in certain women‘s prisons, the Department of Prison Services developed new units to not resemble prisons and to focus on the rehabilitation of mothers. In this thesis, I will analyze this shift from prison nurseries to external units, exploring the conceptual implications of the creation of the units. Relying on semi-structured interviews I conducted in 2010 and 2013 with staff, volunteers, and incarcerated women in Spain‘s external units and prisons nurseries, I look at the intentions behind the external mother units, the extent to which they fulfill these goals, the staff and volunteers‘ perceptions of the incarcerated women, and the experiences of the mothers within. I explore the ways in which this project embodies middle-class feminist principles, how the program founders conceptualize rehabilitation, and how notions of power and control shift. I also look at how class and race interact with gender to determine not only who goes to prison but also how this population is viewed and treated and further explore women‘s resistance strategies within the units. Despite the fact that the female prison population has grown exponentially in Spain and throughout the world in the past several decades, few studies have focused on motherhood in prisons. This study is essential to understand the experiences of mothers in prisons and to analyze the implications of targeting this population. It allows us to see larger societal conceptualizations of motherhood and female offenders and could ultimately better inform the development of policies in different countries. |
| Supervisor | de Haan, Francisca; Robles Sanjuán, Victoria |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/feintuch_sophie.pdf |
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