Female Imprisonment in Barbados, 1878-1928

What is it about?

In this paper, I examine gendered profiles of crime and punishment in Barbados between 1878 and 1928. During this period, Barbados stood out from the rest of the Caribbean in its significantly higher levels of imprisonment of women. Using spatial frames, particularly those generated in studies of “colonial geographies,” the paper examines at close range gender differences in crimes, institutional arrangements, and punishments within prison.

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Why is it important?

This is one of a small set of papers by the author that has pioneered the study of women's (and boys') unusual and outlier profile in the penal system in Barbados, British West Indies, during the period 1875-1920s. This research, examining the conditions that account for the unusual situation of having more women than men committed to penal imprisonment (for petty crimes) during this specific period of Barbadian colonial history, is the first of its kind. The first paper to appear from this research was "Disciplining Boys," followed by "The Abandoned Lower Class of Females." This paper focuses more particularly on conditions in the prisons.