Women at the Margins

J Dianne Garner, Rosemary Sarri, Josefina Figueira-Mcdonough

About the Editors
Contributors
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction to Art and Women at the Margins
Why Art?
Chapter 1. Increasing Inequality: The Ascendancy of Neoconservatism and Institutional Exclusion of Poor Women
The Laissez-Faire Myth, the Neoconservatives, and the Liberal Model of Welfare
The American Gulag: Extending the Net of Control
The Added Oppression of Women Behind Bars
Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance of Marginalized Women
Section I: Increasing the Dual Control of Women and Distorting Their Strength
Chapter 2. Welfare Reform: Tightening the Screws
Welfare in “Crisis”: 1960s-1996
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)
The Work-First Strategy
The Future
Chapter 3. The Forgotten Group: Women in Prisons and Jails
Introduction
Background
Women and Crime
Behavior and Attitudes of Women in Prison
History of the Incarceration of Women
Characteristics of Female Offenders
Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter 4. The Storm Is Passing Over: Marginalized African-American Women
African Cultural Legacies
Demographic Changes
Family Structure
Roles of Males in Families
Marginalization and Urban Sprawl
The Passing Storm
Section II: Blockages to Autonomy
Chapter 5. The Controllers and the Controlled
The Controllers and the Controlled in Political-Economic Context
Forms and Context of Control
Policy Framework of Control: Personal Responsibility and TANF
Practice Framework of Control: Welfare Workers and Welfare Recipients
Policy Framework of Control: The Get-Tough Policy
Practice Framework of Control: Relations Between Guards and Prisoners
Prospects for the Future
Chapter 6. Welfare Reform Now That We Know It: Enforcing Women’s Poverty and Preventing Self-Sufficency
The Centrality of Motherhood and Family Preservation
Mothers, Work, and Welfare: Not a New Combination
The Impact of the 1996 Welfare Reform: Work Requirements and Time Limits
Evaluating the Economic Resources of Families Post-Welfare
Chapter 7. Low-Income Women and Housing: Where Will They Live?
Roots of the Crisis: Structural and Personal Factors
Affordable Housing Programs
The Housing Affordability Squeeze
Housing Is a Women’s Issue
Section III: Gender, Age, and Health Interactions
Chapter 8. Triple Jeopardy: Women Marginalized by Substance Abuse, Poverty, and Incarceration
Introduction
Vicious Cycles and Downward Spirals
Substance Use and Abuse Among Women: Closing the Gender Gap
Differences in the “Addiction Careers” of Men and Women
Policies of Neglect and Punishment Toward Women with Substance Abuse Problems
Bringing an End to Vicious Cycles and Downward Spirals
Finding the Will to Change Women’s Lives
Chapter 9. Life at the Margins: Older Women Living in Poverty
Demographic Trends for the Aging Female Population
The Gender of Poverty in America’s Aging Population
Aging in Prison: Focus on the Older Female Prisoner
Special Needs of the Older Female Prisoner
The Older Woman Offender and Recidivism
Conclusion
Chapter 10. Teenage Pregnancy: Mediating Rotten Outcomes and Improving Opportunities
Teenage Motherhood in the United States
Attitudes, Values, and Economics
Theoretical Interpretations
The Conflict of Developmental Issues and Policy
Teenage Mothers and Welfare Reform
Teenagers’ Prenatal Care Access: An Arizona Study
Support Services for Teenage Parents
Recommendation for Change to Health and Social Policy
Section IV: Bad Women, Undeserving Mothers
Chapter 11. Controlled and Excluded: Reproduction and Motherhood Among Poor and Imprisoned Women
The Links: No Safe Place
Excessive Punishment: The Sex and Gender Ta