Older Women’s Pathways to Prison in Thailand: Economic Precarity, Caregiving, and Adversity

Abstract

In feminist criminology, there is a growing body of research exploring gendered pathways into prison. However, to date, this scholarship has not considered how age and gender may intersect to impact women’s criminalization experiences. In this chapter, the authors have consequently chosen to explore older women’s (aged 50+ years) narratives of their journeys to prison in Thailand using a feminist pathways approach. Results show several common threads in the stories of these women. Most were criminalized for the first time in later adulthood, had lived with various childhood and adulthood adversities, including, but not limited, to victimization and financial precarity, and had familial caretaking responsibilities. Many also recounted problems with substance misuse. Additionally, two relatively distinct pathways to prison emerged from the narratives: (1) economically motivated, (2) adversity, emotional distress, and addiction. A third pathway – intersectional, diffuse and unique – was also identified. It included themes from the first two pathways and the story of one woman that could not be categorized elsewhere. While the imprisonment pathways found mirrored those from previous pathways scholarship points of difference are noted.

Citation

Russell, T., Jeffries, S. and Chuenurah, C. (2022), "Older Women’s Pathways to Prison in Thailand: Economic Precarity, Caregiving, and Adversity", Jefferson, A.M. and Jeffries, S. (Ed.) Gender, Criminalization, Imprisonment and Human Rights in Southeast Asia (Emerald Studies in Activist Criminology), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-286-820221006