Incarceration And Social Control Case Study

Case Study #1

1. What question was the author was trying to answer or what problem was the focus of the study/research? The author was trying to pinpoint the difference between women and men when it came to incarceration and how rural areas can affect incarceration rate. They wanted to know if the feminization of poverty and capitalist exploitation will increase women convictions throughout Kentucky counties in order to socially control women.

2. What main points were made in the study/research concerning social control? One of the main points that are made in the introduction show that women are more likely to be punished for things that violate the traditional gender role. Women are more likely than men to be punished for things like status offenses according to the text which include things such as liquor law violations, curfew violations, etc. The reading always breaks into how the women’s race can factor into sentencing. One of the shocking fact that the study shows is that black women are more likely to receive harsher sentencing than white women would receive.

What did the author conclude about the problem or question as it relates to social control?

The author concluded a number of things. One was that toxic air emissions released by Kentucky increased the likelihood that white males would be convicted. It was also concluded that feminization of poverty increases both white male and females incarceration rates. They also found that a greater numbers of black relatives to whites increased black female conviction rates. In addition to that the number of families receiving welfare also vastly increased the male conviction rate. The author found that being white poor women significantly increased the likelihood of