Suchergebnisse

At present, little is known regarding the experience and activities of gang-affiliated women in prison. This article is based on interviews with 15 formerly incarcerated women who offered insights into their experiences. Rather than continue the territorially based street divisions they defended, the women tended, instead, to create interpersonal units in the form of families and/or sexual dyads, reconstructing hetero-normative relational patterns during the course of their incarceration. The article offers an alternative lens through which to understand human agency among incarcerated women.

Despite a growing literature regarding female gang membership, little is known about the ways in which gang-affiliated women negotiate the boundaries of gang membership. The current study, based on semi-structured interviews with twenty-four formerly gang-affiliated Chicana women involved with a prominent gang prevention/intervention organization, sought to understand how these women negotiated their interactions and understood their identity within the gang. Findings suggest that these women and the gangs in which they operate recreate broader gender norms that affect their standing and social mobility within the gang.