Structural Racism

Keith Lawrence of the Aspen Institute on Community Change and Terry Keleher from the Applied Research Center at UC Berkeley defined structural racism in the United States, as the “normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics – historical, cultural, institutional and interpersonal – that routinely advantage whites while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color”. This concept gives context to the inequalities and inequities faced by people of color. Because although the landscape of our system and the violence caused by it has changed, our societies continue to reflect one where preferential treatment, privilege, and power is afforded to white people. A similar concept is structural violence, defined by

Johan Galtung, who is a significant contributor to the creation of the peace and conflict studies discipline. In his article, Violence, Peace, and Peace Research, he explains it as a form of social injustice that occurs when there is an authority over certain human beings which refrains them from actualizing their potential. Galtung continues and says, “structural violence is also meaningful as a blueprint… used to threaten people into subordination: if you do not behave, we shall have to reintroduce all the disagreeable structures we had before” (172). To be born a female is like having the world see your gender as being a preexisting condition to take advantage of. For example, the Pink Tax which forces women to pay more for their hygiene products than the ones marketed towards men. When this mindset is combined with the additional forms of discrimination facing women, and specifically women of color and women in lower income communities, the lack of access to quality health care, adequate housing, employment, and education, widens the gaps between men and women’s potential. And for women who come from these communities, the system does not open it’s doors for them or their children, leaving mothers with few options to support their families.
The ability to care for one's family is lessened when women have to go to extremes to provide for their families, which can have dire consequences. Many women in prison are single mothers with young children, which automatically disservices her chances of prospering. Society’s belief that a woman is primarily liable for the well being of her family, weakens her opportunities to support herself because in the labor industry, she will both be advanced at a slower pace and paid less for her work (Okin). These conditions can make a mother's effort to support her family take a desperate turn. Most women in prison are women of color, in their early to mid thirties, have a family history with the criminal justice system, are survivors of physical and sexual abuse, have limited education and come from poverty (SAGE). Although Blacks and Hispanics are a minority of the U.S population, they make up 63% of women in state prisons and 67% of women in federal prison (CITE). Considering these factors, it is understandable that women are often convicted of economically focused crimes; like prostitution, property crime, theft and drug related offenses (CITE). The system that is being enforced in the U.S creates a continuous cycle of structural racism and structural violence which works against black and Hispanic, leaving them with few options but to go against the system and face future consequences. One of the most dire consequences can come from a mother’s need to be good providers for their children. Which can create situations where a mother and child/children become separated. In situations where a mother is incarcerated and there is no immediate family member to care for her child, the child has to enter the foster care system. When a mother has received a long prison sentence and their child has had to enter foster care, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 ends her parental rights after 15 months (CITE). Unfortunately, this means that most women will lose their children. In support of this claim, Illinois’ Cook County, conducted a study which compared incarcerated mothers with children in foster care, vs. non incarcerated mothers with children in foster care. The results showed that children who entered foster care upon their mother’s incarceration were half as likely to reunite after their release (CITE). Women who have been recently released can find it very difficult to be able to fight to get their children back. They will need extensive resources, such as legal representation and therefore need to be financially able to go through the process. And if a mother needs to go to meetings and hearings on the subject of reuniting with her child/children, it will further hinder her employment opportunities. These acts of separation can worsen familial instability and make future reunification more complicated and difficult for the mother.
While separation of the family is one of the more severe consequences that come out of mothers serving jail time, another is the psychological toll that incarceration can have on women. Spending time in jail can be a very traumatizing experience for women, as their prison system has been copied from the male model. Which does not take into the account the specific discriminations that women face before, during and after their sentences. As previously mentioned, the majority of women in prison have a history of enduring physical and sexual abuse at some point in their lifetime. While in prison women are far more likely than men to encounter sexual assault (CITE). Between 2009 and 2011, although women only represented about 13% of people in local jails, they accounted for 67% of victims of staff-on-inmate sexual victimization (CITE). Prison is often viewed as a form of a restorative justice, but in the specific cases of women and mothers, they are often worse off after serving their punishment because of what they endure during that time. Prisons cannot continue to be viewed as a means to punish criminals, because the time they spend in prison often does not prepare them for their release, and can actually be more harmful to their mental and physical well being, than if they were not incarcerated.
Continuing with the model of the prison system, there are many opportunities afforded to inmates while serving out their sentences.

But, these programs are copied from the male prison system which does not take into account specific vocational training for women (SAGE). Prior to their incarceration, about 48% of women were unemployed, had minimal educational opportunities and limited career training when they were arrested (SAGE). These women also typically lack an employment history and have developed a limited amount of employment skills (SAGE). Mothers who are serving time in prison are not receiving any benefits from their sentencing and do not leave prison any more prepared to break the cycle. Most industries directed towards women are ones which perform criminal background checks, such as retail and Caregiving, which adds another barrier to their ability to secure employment (NELP). The families that these women leave behind may have already suffered serious consequences in their mother’s absence and the looming continued unemployment will further their struggles. A study that was administered in Texas, which tracked women released from prison, found that 18% of them were still in need of public assistance eight to ten months after their release (NELP). And in another study, it was determined that when formerly incarcerated women are successful at finding work, their income lowered by up to 20%; which severely impacted their ability to support their families (NELP). Arguably, the same people who line their pockets in the for profit prison system are also the ones who contribute to the system of structural violence that occurs within the United States. Currently, women are being jailed at higher rates than men and the lack of resources available to women during their incarceration are contributing factors to why women break the law and continue to end up in

prison.
Prison also impacts those women who are not themselves incarcerated, but have immediate family members who are serving time in prison. As previously discussed, women carry the majority of the burden of caring for their children. This creates very close relationships between a single mother and child, which makes the psychological strain of incarceration even stronger for a mother when her child is serving time. In homes with two parents, when the father is locked away this leaves a sudden gap and increases the responsibility of the mother. There was a study conducted on the mental and emotional health of mothers when their sons are serving jail time. The results showed that there is an association between the state of a mother’s mental health and having an immediate family member imprisoned (CITE). When a woman’s son is incarcerated, often times there is an increased financial and psychological burden placed on the mother because she has to care for her grandchild/grandchildren (CITE). The report determined that in the cases of mothers with sons in prison, they were more likely to be poor, to experience depression and to be less educated (CITE). Lastly, the psychological well being of mothers can have a heavy impact on her children. It can go so far as to increase the likelihood of her children experiencing future incarceration. Therefore, there needs to be greater emphasis on mothers mental and emotional health, specifically in lower income communities.
Structural violence and structural racism has allowed for conversations on how to change the prison pipeline by creating space for models like ones in the male prison system. Where men can receive training in positions geared towards them, in order to assist in their reintegration to society. But prison is not the answer to how to prevent people committing their crimes after release and at the rates that the United States is incarcerating it’s citizens, it is also not a deterrent to committing crimes. The status quo is responsible for allowing environments to exist where sometimes the only options that a mother has to is to break the law in order to provide daily necessities for her family. The causes of the vulnerability of women who are going in and out of prison have yet to be set within the larger picture of American society. Mothers are in need of greater resources, better training, more opportunity, and of a balanced responsibility in the household but none of these problems can be solved without answering how the framework of society allowed this to happen. If women are expected to raise good children who contribute to a just society, than society needs to reflect and be able to support a just household. One where a mother, no matter the color of her skin or her income level can have access to resources which will better her life and the lives of her children.