Black Women at Work in Corrections in the Era of Mass Incarceration: Documenting Demographic Changes in the New York City Department of Correction
type: CreativeWork
description: Recent work has popularized the idea that mass incarceration arose in the wake of the civil rights movement to maintain the social and economic subordination of African Americans previously enforced under Jim Crow. This discussion has not accounted for the many black Americans working in corrections, particularly in large metropolitan jail systems. This paper documents the increase in black women working as correction officers and administrators in the New York City Department of Correction since the late 1970s and explores the implications of this growth on the strict racial argument about mass incarceration. Using administrative and archival sources, it argues that the Department has been a site of professional advancement for black women and that the timing of this demographic shift suggests that carceral expansion in part enabled black women to gain a foothold in a traditionally white and male profession. It argues that these are good jobs that have offered economic security and political power to black women in corrections, and that this evidence highlights the inadequacy of strictly racial arguments about the causes and consequences of mass incarceration. Finally, it argues that an accurate demographic picture of workers in corrections is critical for advocates of racial justice and decarceration.
abstract: Recent work has popularized the idea that mass incarceration arose in the wake of the civil rights movement to maintain the social and economic subordination of African Americans previously enforced under Jim Crow. This discussion has not accounted for the many black Americans working in corrections, particularly in large metropolitan jail systems. This paper documents the increase in black women working as correction officers and administrators in the New York City Department of Correction since the late 1970s and explores the implications of this growth on the strict racial argument about mass incarceration. Using administrative and archival sources, it argues that the Department has been a site of professional advancement for black women and that the timing of this demographic shift suggests that carceral expansion in part enabled black women to gain a foothold in a traditionally white and male profession. It argues that these are good jobs that have offered economic security and political power to black women in corrections, and that this evidence highlights the inadequacy of strictly racial arguments about the causes and consequences of mass incarceration. Finally, it argues that an accurate demographic picture of workers in corrections is critical for advocates of racial justice and decarceration.
author: Fisher, Carolyn
keywords: Political Science, Public Policy, Urban Studies, correction officers, mass incarceration, New York City Department of Correction, African-American women, women correctional personnel
date published: 2019-09-01T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:58:39Z
provider: City University of New York - Graduate Center
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York