Understanding the over-representation of lesbian or bisexual women in the Australian prisoner population

Abstract

ABSTRACT Australian research shows that sexual and gender minorities are over-represented in the criminal legal system – particularly youth, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and strikingly, women. Almost 37% of incarcerated women in Australia identify as lesbian or bisexual (vs 4% in the community). In this paper, we consider two distinct approaches to conceptualising the sizeable presence and over-representation of lesbian and bisexual women in prisoner populations. Specifically, we examine Deprivation and Queer Criminal Career models – two theories separated by a dichotomy first popularised by Joseph Fishman almost 90 years ago: ‘homosexuals who are formed in prison’ and ‘homosexuals who come to prison’. We contend that although such frameworks have had or hold productive potential, taken in isolation they provide an incomplete understanding of the issue. We conclude by suggesting that the dichotomy that has separated theoretical understandings of this issue is false and propose that future scholarship consider circumventing this dichotomy by exploring the temporal aspects and multiplicity of incarcerated women’s social histories, positions and sexual identities. Such work would contribute to countering one-dimensional narratives circulated by dominant paradigms that have explained or overlooked the over-incarceration of lesbian and bisexual women.