Book Reviews : Women Guarding Men. Lynn Zimmer. University of Chicago Press. 264 pp., cloth

• Author: Darrell Steffensmeier
• DOI: 10.1177/088740348700200211
• Date: 01 June 1987
• Published date: 01 June 1987
• Subject Matter: Articles

205

influence

of

Los

Angeles,

the

closest

major

city,

on

Las

Vegas.

Still,

I

remain

a

skeptic

on

the

issue

of

whether

the

influence

operates

in

the

other

direction

in

any

important

way -

whether

Las

Vegas

is

a

crucial

source

of

cultural

phenomena

which

is

transmitted

to

the

rest

of

American

culture,

either

directly

or

mediated

through

Southern

California

life.

In

his

epilogue,

Findlay

mentions

the

respectability

that

characterizes

gambling

in

the

1980s,

a

development

that

is

fascinating

for

those

of

us

concerned

with

issues

of

law

and

morality.

Gambling

has

become

more

accepted,

more

relied

upon

as

a

source

of

revenue

in

states

with

fiscal

constraints.

This

phenomenon

indicates

that

we

will

be

grappling

with

issues

related

to

gambling

and

its

control

over

the

next

decade.

Indeed,

it

has

been

quite

a

while

since

gambling

was

rescinded

after

being

voted

in.

The

1980s

and

1990s,

while

not

likely

to

witness

the

emergence

of

gambling

stocks

on

Wall

Street

as

the

late

1970s

did,

should

see

some

debate

on

the

advisability

of

the

expansion

of

gambling,

and

on

its

relationship

to

the

American

character

and

morals.

In

that

debate,

I

still

think

that

the

Las

Vegas-derived

concerns

will

pale

in

contrast

to

those

of

lotteries,

video

lotteries,

legal

numbers

games,

and

off-track

betting.

I

believe

we

have

a

bifurcated

model

of

gambling

in

America,

and

Las

Vegas

and

Atlantic

City

remain

the

deviant

cases.

If

readers

can

approach

People

of

Chance

without

dwelling

upon

this

argument,

they

will

find

it

a

fine

piece

of

historical

research

and

a

worthy

contribution

to

the

study

of

American

culture.

John

Dombrink

University

of

California

at

Irvine

Women

Guarding

Men.

Lynn

Zimmer.

University

of

Chicago

Press.

264 pp.,

cloth.

Zimmer’s

study

of

female

guards

in

men’s

prisons

is

the

first

empirical

examination

of

integration

among

correctional

officers

in

American

prisons.

The

study

is

a

documentation

of

the

struggle

over

women’s

entry

into

the

guard

force

in

Rhode

Island

and

New

York

men’s

state

prisons.

The

employment

of

female

guards

is

an

important

aspect

of

workplace

trends

toward

higher

numbers

of

women

in

the

paid

labor

force

and

of

their

somewhat

greater

participation

in

nontraditional

or

&dquo;male&dquo;

types

of

jobs.

Also

the

hiring

of

women

as

guards

has

occurred

in

the

context

of

tremendous

legal

ambiguity

as

well

as

widespread

opposition,

as

Zimmer

ably

outlines

in

the

opening

chapter.

The

study

involves

interviews

with

administrators,

male

and

female

guards,

and

inmates.

But

the

bulk

of

the

study

involves interviews

with

the

women

themselves

regarding

who

they

are,

what

they

put

up

with,

and

how

they

adapt.

Once

hired,

the

women

faced

a

work

environment

populated

by

co-

workers

and

supervisors

who

actively

and

vocally

opposed

their

presence

and