Women Street Hustlers: Who They are and How They Survive

While the number of women in U.S. jails remains low in comparison with the number of men, over the past 10 years their admission rate has soared and now surpasses the rate of increase for men. Who are these chronic low-level female offenders, and what path leads them to drug involvement, prostitution, and petty larceny-- illicit activities best described as hustling? While demographic information is available on these women, it tells us little about who they are as people, how they become repeat offenders, or how they survive on the street. Barbara Rockell sheds light on these questions in a fascinating and empathic study of female repeat offenders admitted to a New York state jail. Their varied life trajectories reveal the difficulties of growing up in an unstable environment where adulthood begins early, and survival depends on street smarts. Despite the women's self-defeating behaviors, many of them reveal a surprising degree of initiative and self-sufficiency. This finding runs counter to previous research in which drug use and criminal activity by women have been viewed as reflecting the perpetrators' victim status and lack of agency. The author argues for seeing these behaviors in a broader social context and suggests avenues for future study, as well as more humane and constructive intervention strategies.

Barbara A. Rockell, PhD, is an assistant professor of sociology at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York. She joined the faculty in 2003 after a lengthy and diverse career in the field of criminal justice. Starting in the area of child protective services, she subsequently served in positions at the New York State Commission of Correction and Division of Criminal Justice Services. In 1990, Rockell joined the Monroe County Sheriff's Office in Rochester, New York, where she acted as the Sheriff's staff inspector. Rockell began her graduate studies in criminal justice at the University at Albany in 1977 but interrupted them shortly thereafter to pursue a career path in the field. She was readmitted to the School of Criminal Justice in 2003, where she completed her doctorate. She is currently completing research for a volume concerning jail use and confinement.