Prison Violence and the Intersectionality of Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Abstract

Minority men and women are significantly impacted by mass incarceration. Mass incarceration has also resulted in a growth in prison violence, and previous studies in this area have focused on individuals and not their interconnected statuses. This study specifically considers the role of intersectional criminology and the commitment of prison violence in a large western state on female inmates. Intersectional criminology is a theoretical approach that enables a critical look at the impact of individuals’ interconnected statuses in relation to crime. Findings suggest that an intersectional approach provides more definitive statistical results in the assessment of prison violence and show that minority females commit more violent infractions in prison than White women. As such, this study builds upon previous arguments that intersectionality should be more widely used in future research. Implications for the findings are discussed.