Women in California Prisons: Survey Data from the 1990s and 1960s

Survey data from a study exploring the attitudes and experiences of women in two California prisons, with a temporal comparison to the 1960s. The dataset includes responses to closed-ended questions on prison life difficulties, inmate relations, and staff relations, alongside demographic information. It was created by Candace Kruttschnitt of the University of Toronto, analyzing surveys and secondary data from official records and archives.

Use Cases

• Modeling women's reactions to incarceration based on pre-prison characteristics and institutional structures described in the study.
• Analyzing temporal changes in prison experiences using survey measures replicated from the 1960s Ward and Kassebaum study.
• Comparing inmate-staff relations across different prisons based on survey questions about the nature of those relations.
• Investigating correlations between demographic factors like age, ethnicity, and education and perceptions of prison life problems.

Strengths

• Includes a temporal component comparing data from the early 1960s and mid-1990s.
• Survey design incorporates established penology research measures and scales.
• Demographic variables include age, ethnicity, marital status, and education.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is limited to two prisons in California, which may reflect geographic bias.

Provenance

Source

Candace Kruttschnitt, University of Toronto

Collection Method

Surveys of inmates and secondary data from official records, archives, and an earlier 1960s study.

Time Range

Early 1960s and mid-1990s

Geography

California, USA