From the Foreword by George Henderson: Perhaps nothing captures the debilitating effects of sexism more vividly than [this] in-depth study of women incarcerated in our correctional institutions. Beneath the statistics lie a human tragedy of a magnitude most people cannot fully comprehend. A disproportionate number of women are wasting away in non-rehabilitative institutions that perpetuate rather than correct criminal behaviors. The editors and contributors to this book capture cogent slices of life of some of the role players in the prison drama. And they do so with the sensitive touch of social surgeons who carefully lift and examine one layer of human behavior and then another. But they do not stop there. They also examine some of the attitudes, beliefs, and values of incarcerated women and their keepers (prison staff). The total work is an insightful glimpse of a neglected subculture.

One of the unique features of the book is the diversity of the contributors in terms of disciplines such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, social work, communication, and organization and management. Another feature that makes this work different is the multi-ethnic and cross-cultural diversity of the contributors. Finally, there are no other studies that look at women offenders holistically.