Book Review: Women lifers: Lives before, behind, and beyond bars

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016819899130
• Author: Michelle L. Malkin
• Date: 01 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

but limited by the need to carry on with other life responsibilities, such as work or family, which pre-

cluded them from risking too much. Nevertheless, they were also inspired to engage in conventional

system change, such as community organizing. Tourist protesters were more likely to be frightened

away by police repression, though they often committed to supporting the protest movement in other,

less risky ways. In Chapter 6, Cobbina applies Waddington et al.’s (1987) f‌lash points model of

public disorder to demonstrate how structural, political/ideological, cultural, institutional/organizational,

contextual, situational, and interactional factors can explain and predict when “f‌lash points”of public

disorder are likely to occur. Covering the factual ground presented in the book, Cobbina reorients the

discussion within this framework to explain what the world watched in Ferguson and Baltimore. Her

work here makes clear that greater use and consideration of Waddington’s work is warranted.

Overall, the book provides a comprehensive narrative of protestors’experience and feelings of the

demonstrations against police abuse that took place in 2014 and 2015 in Ferguson and Baltimore. Its

style is clear and easy to understand, making this a good initial read for scholars or students interested

in these specif‌ic events, encountering protest studies for the f‌irst time, or seeking real-life applications

of Waddington’s Flashpoints model. Just as important is how clear the book makes it, implicitly if

not explicitly, that Americans viewing democracy movements across the globe need look no further

than here at home to discover the conditions that spark them.

ORCID iD

Kwan-Lamar Blount-Hill https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5471-0812

Dye, M. H., & Aday, R. H. (2019).

Women lifers: Lives before, behind, and beyond bars. Rowman & Littlef‌ield, vii, 225pp. $36.00, ISBN: 978-1-5381-

1302-8.

Reviewed by: Michelle L. Malkin ,Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016819899130

While the vast majority of literature written about the experiences of those who receive life sentences

has focused on men, there is growing attention on women. Dye and Aday’s new book Women Lifers:

Lives Before, Behind, and Beyond Bars (Rowan & Littlef‌ield) adds a powerful and in-depth look at

the lives of women who are serving life sentences in three Georgia prisons. The authors offer a thor-

ough and intimate look at women’s lives before and during prison, as well as their hopes and dreams

after release. While not the f‌irst book published to look specif‌ically at female lifers, this book offers a

unique view and commentary on women’s pathways to life sentences, their adjustment to the carceral

system, and the specif‌ic needs that are not always addressed through prison programming and

policies.

The authors begin with a gendered prof‌ile of lifers in the United States and more specif‌ically

women in the state of Georgia. As sociologists, they conducted research over an 8-year period uti-

lizing two surveys. They collected additional data through informal communications with partici-

pants. The authors support their f‌indings with tables and charts that aid readers in understanding.

They also intermittently provide short and interesting participant case histories that help highlight

many of the book’s themes. Women Lifers offers a comprehensive analysis of how the needs of

women with long prison sentences diverge from typical prison populations.

A signif‌icant portion of the book (Chapters 2 and 3) is dedicated to the women’s pathways to

prison. Drawing on the research of Kathleen Daly and others, Dye and Aday offer evidence that

406 Criminal Justice Review 48(3)