Black women in marginalized communities are uniquely at risk of battering, rape, sexual harassment, stalking and incest. Through the compelling stories of Black women who have been most affected by ...racism, persistent poverty, class inequality, limited access to support resources or institutions, Beth E. Richie shows that the threat of violence to Black women has never been more serious, demonstrating how conservative legal, social, political and economic policies have impacted activism in the U.S.-based movement to end violence against women. Richie argues that Black women face particular peril because of the ways that race and culture have not figured centrally enough in the analysis of the causes and consequences of gender violence. As a result, the extent of physical, sexual and other forms of violence in the lives of Black women, the various forms it takes, and the contexts within which it occurs are minimized-at best-and frequently ignored.Arrested Justicebrings issues of sexuality, class, age, and criminalization into focus right alongside of questions of public policy and gender violence, resulting in a compelling critique, a passionate re-framing of stories, and a call to action for change.
In this essay, I illustrate how discussions of the effects of violence on communities are enhanced by the use of a critical framework that links various microvariables with macro-institutional ...processes. Drawing upon my work on the issue of violent victimization toward African American women and how conventional justice policies have failed to bring effective remedy in situations of extreme danger and degradation, I argue that a broader conceptual framework is required to fully understand the profound and persistent impact that violence has on individuals embedded in communities that are experiencing the most adverse social injustices. I use my work as a case in point to illustrate how complex community dynamics, ineffective institutional responses, and broader societal forces of systemic violence intersect to further the impact of individual victimization. In the end, I argue that understanding the impact of all forms of violence would be better served by a more intersectional and critical interdisciplinary framework.
While considerable attention has been given to the ways that intimate partner violence impacts women, the prevailing analyses have not sufficiently attended to the range of social consequences that ...have particularly deleterious effects on marginalized groups. Part of what is missing in this analytical gap is attention to the negative effect of racialized criminalization and incarceration of women who have experienced gender-based violence. For this reason, this article will make the link between gender violence against Black women and the forces that have led to their overcriminalization. Following a brief review of the current statistics on rape, battering, stalking, emotional manipulation, and other forms of abuse, we will present data on arrest and incarceration rates of Black women in the U.S. Then, a case history will be used to illustrate how the two dangerous trends are linked. The article will conclude with theoretical analyses of the linkages and strategic recommendations for change.
The movements for racial justice, health equity, and economic relief have been activated in the contentious and challenging climate of 2020, with COVID-19 and social protest. In this context, ...feminist scholars, anti-violence advocates, and transformative justice practitioners have renewed their call for substantive changes to all forms of gender-based violence. This article offers a genealogy of the battered women’s movement in the U.S. from the lived experiences of two longtime activists. These reflections offer an analysis of the political praxis which evolved over the past half century of the anti-violence movement, and which has foregrounded the current social, political, and ideological framing of gender-based violence today. We conclude with a view to the future, focusing on the possibilities for transformative justice and abolition feminism as a return to our radical roots and ancestral histories.
Each year, more than 10 million people enter US jails, most returning home within a few weeks. Because jails concentrate people with infectious and chronic diseases, substance abuse, and mental ...health problems, and reentry policies often exacerbate these problems, the experiences of people leaving jail may contribute to health inequities in the low-income communities to which they return. Our study of the experiences in the year after release of 491 adolescent males and 476 adult women returning home from New York City jails shows that both populations have low employment rates and incomes and high rearrest rates. Few received services in jail. However, overall drug use and illegal activity declined significantly in the year after release. Postrelease employment and health insurance were associated with lower rearrest rates and drug use. Public policies on employment, drug treatment, housing, and health care often blocked successful reentry into society from jail, suggesting the need for new policies that support successful reentry into society.
Each year, more than 10 million people enter US jails, most returning home within a few weeks. Because jails concentrate people with infectious and chronic diseases, substance abuse, and mental ...health problems, and reentry policies often exacerbate these problems, the experiences of people leaving jail may contribute to health inequities in the low-income communities to which they return. Our study of the experiences in the year after release of 491 adolescent males and 476 adult women returning home from New York City jails shows that both populations have low employment rates and incomes and high rearrest rates. Few received services in jail. However, overall drug use and illegal activity declined significantly in the year after release. Postrelease employment and health insurance were associated with lower rearrest rates and drug use. Public policies on employment, drug treatment, housing, and health care often blocked successful reentry into society from jail, suggesting the need for new policies that support successful reentry into society.
This article uses results of a qualitative research project to describe the challenges that incarcerated women face as they return to their communities from jail or prison. Following a descriptive ...profile of the population, the particular challenges are discussed, focusing on the gender and culturally specific needs that formerly incarcerated women from low-income communities face upon release from correctional facilities in this country. The article concludes with a discussion of the broader contexts that affect women's self-sufficiency, and the need for neighborhood development initiatives, public policy reform, and social changes.
Richie uses the turn of the millennium to discuss the achievements of the feminist-based antiviolence movement in the US, which formed as a response to an emerging consciousness among Black feminists ...who regarded gender violence as the most extreme point along the continuum of women's oppression.
Purpose: Limb loss due to a landmine injury is sudden and devastating. The resulting disability makes life challenging in a world where physical ability is the 'norm'. In order to better understand ...the psychological adjustments individuals make in their recovery from a landmine injury, the Landmine Survivors Network conducted an exploratory qualitative study to determine factors that contribute to an individual's recovery. The study examined psychosocial aspects, coping strategies, and resilience characteristics of limb loss survivors across differing cultural, societal and economic backgrounds.
Method: Eighty-five participants (68 persons of limb loss, 10 family members, seven service providers) were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol in the USA and an open-ended format in six landmine affected countries. Data analysis was completed using grounded theory analytic strategies.
Results: Data indicated that the survivors' acceptance of limb loss and their state of psychological recovery were greatly influenced by the individual's resilience characteristics, social support, medical care, economic situation and societal attitudes toward people with disabilities.
Conclusion: Recovery from traumatic amputation in landmine survivors needs to be comprehensive and coordinated, and requires addressing the individual's physical, psychological, economic and social needs within the context of family, community, and the socio-cultural environment in which they live.
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