“All we want is to be near our husbands”: How Latina prison wives navigate social controls

Incarceration extends beyond prison walls, shaping the lives of those connected to incarcerated individuals through systems of social control. While literature on secondary prisonization documents the financial, emotional, and bureaucratic burdens women endure, far less is known about how Latinas navigate carceral controls to sustain their romantic relationships. Given the rising rates of incarceration among Latinos, understanding how the prison's formal social controls shape Latinas’ lived experiences is critical. Drawing on 25 semi-structured interviews with Latina prison wives, this study asks: (a) What social control mechanisms do prison wives experience within the carceral context during visitations? (b) How and why do prison wives engage in informal social controls across social settings? (c) How do women cope with these control mechanisms? Findings reveal that formal carceral policies, particularly inconsistent dress code enforcement and racial segregation, disrupt social relationships and foster distrust among visitors. To protect their visiting privileges, some women internalize and reproduce institutional norms, inhibiting the development of supportive social networks among communities disproportionately affected by incarceration. At the same time, women developed protective strategies that both secured their visiting privileges while facilitating community-building by sharing resources and emotional support.