Book Reviews : Women At The Wall: A Study Of Prisoners' Wives Doing Time On The Outside by Laura T. Fishman. State University of New York Press,1990. 337 pp. paper

• Author: Imogene L. Moyer
• Published date: 01 October 1990
• Date: 01 October 1990
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/088740349000400308
• Published By: Sage Publications, Inc.

284

Women

At

The

Wall:

A

Study

Of

Prisoners’

Wives

Doing

Time

On

The

Outside

by

Laura

T.

Fishman.

State

University

of

New

York

Press,1990. 337

pp. paper.

Fishman’s

book

Women

at

the

Wall

makes

an

important

contribution

to

the

fields

of

sociology

and

criminology.

This

book

presents

an

excellent

example

of

qualitative

research

in

the

highly

neglected

area

of

prisoners’

wives

and

families.

Fishman,

a

university

professor,

utilizes

her

scholarly

research

skills

and

her

personal

experiences

as

a

former

wife

of

a

prisoner

to

enhance

the

gathering

and

analysis

of

the

data.

In

chapter

one

and

Appendix

D,

Fishman

explains

her

methodology

in

detail.

The

process

of

obtaining

her

sample

involved

an

examination

of

all

prison

records

from

two

Vermont

facilities(Londonderry

Correctional

Facility

and

Newport

Community

Correctional

Center),

followed

by

initial

interviews

with

all

69

married

men

in

these

prisons,

65

of

whom

signed

an

agreement

to

participate

in

this

study

and

provided

their

wives’

names

and

addresses.

Thirty

wives

agreed

to

be

interviewed.

In

addition

to

interviews

with

the

sample

of

thirty

wives,

Fishman

observed

ten

group

meetings

involving

prisoners’

wives

and

had

regular

contact

by

telephone

with

twelve

wives

at

least

every

two

weeks.

Chapter

two

presents

details

of

the

criminal

experiences

of

both

the

prisoners

and

their

wives

as

well

as

information

regarding

how

the

couples

met

and

the

women’s

interpretations

of

their

husbands

criminal

activities.

Chapters

three

and

four

discuss

the

impact

of

the

men’s

criminality

on

their

domestic

lives

and

the

women’s

explanations

of

and

accommodations

to

their

mate’s

criminal

activities.

In

chapter

5,

Fishman

points

to

two

crisis

points

(arrest

and

sentenc-

ing)

in

the

lives

of

wives

whose

husbands

are

passing

through

the

criminaliza-

tion

process.

The

remaining

chapters

discuss

the

feelings

of

shame

and

the

stigmatization

experienced

by

the

women

whose

husbands

have

been

incar-

cerated.

These

chapters

further

include

analysis

of

coping

strategies

used

by

the

women,

issues

involving

constraints

on

prison

visitation,

the

women’s

adjustments

to

living

alone,

and

finally

the

return

of

the

prisoner

to

the

home

after

release

from

incarceration.

One

of

the

major

strengths

of

the

book

is

the

quotations

from

the

interviews

as

Fishman

allows

the

&dquo;Wives

to

Speak

for

Themselves&dquo;.

These

quotations,

which

are

skillfully

used

throughout

the

book,

enrich

the

reader’s

under-

standing

of

what

it

means

to

be

a

prisoner’s

wife.

The

research

as

reported

also

provides

insights

into

the

lives

of

the

male

prisoners

and

the

children

of

prisoners.

Most

importantly,

Fishman’s

analysis

includes

data

on

alcoholism,

drug

addiction,

and

spouse

abuse

as

these

problems

relate

to

the

lives

of

prisoners

and

their

wives.

Some

readers

may

be

bothered

by

the

absence

of

a

strong

theoretical

framework

and

the

fact

that

the

brief

literature

review

is

placed

in

Appendix

A.

This

may

be

partially

remedied

by

reading

the

literature

review

after

chapter