The Archive of Women’s Incarceration: Reading Case Files from the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills

In collaboration with

The Columbia Population Research Center,

The Center for Justice at Columbia

is pleased to invite you to

“The Archive of Women’s Incarceration: Reading Case Files from the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills”

seminar by

Emily Hainze

Ph.D. Candidate, English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

and a Heyman Center Public Humanities Fellow

and

“Protection for Whom? Responding to ‘At Risk’ Young Women in Scotland”

seminar by

Annie Rose Crowley

Ph.D. Candidate, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), University of Glasgow

Friday, November 13th, 2015

12:00 – 2:00 PM

Columbia School of Social Work

1255 Amsterdam Avenue, Room 1109

(between 121st and 122nd streets)

**Please RSVP (by reply email) by Wednesday, November 11^th, as lunch will be provided.

Abstracts:

“The Archive of Women’s Incarceration: Reading Case Files from the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills”

This paper examines case files from the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills, one of the first prisons for women in New York State. Looking to files compiled from 1917-1920, I argue that we might read the case files’ records two ways: first, to understand the development of new forms of classification and discipline for women, and second, to illuminate how incarcerated women reoriented and refused the systems of classification and segregation to which they were subject.

“Protection for Whom? Responding to ‘At Risk’ Young Women in Scotland”

The number of young women coming into contact with the criminal justice system has been a recent subject of concern internationally, with a focus on an apparent increase in their offending. Yet there is still insufficient empirical evidence regarding what suitable responses to these young women might look like. There has also been little exploration of how current neo-liberal discourses of responsibilization, empowerment and self-governance impact upon welfare and justice service provision for young people generally, let alone a gendered examination. This paper draws upon emergent findings from PhD research exploring the appropriateness and responsiveness of contemporary criminal justice responses to young women in Scotland who have offended or are deemed to be ‘at risk’ of offending. The qualitative research examines the narratives of practitioners from various settings (criminal justice social work, secure care settings, community based projects and prison) regarding their understanding and interpretation of the needs of the young women; and the shaping of their practice responses both by their perceptions and by wider organizational, social and political factors.