Prisoners’ wives’ interpretations of male criminality and subsequent arrest

This paper looks at the kinds of Interpretations reconstructed by prisoners’ wives to explain male criminality and arrest. A combination of methods ‐ In‐depth Interviews with wives, examination of prison records, summaries of women's “rap sessions,” and a variety of other sources of data — were used to construct an account of the experiences of thirty women married to men Incarcerated In two prisons. Wives’ accounts are quite consistent with other data sources. The findings Indicate that wives display considerable Ingenuity In devising explanations and Interpretations of their husbands’ criminal behavior and arrest which allow their marriages to continue. Few of these Interpretations are, however, permanent; they are usually modified In the course of wives’ ongoing Interactions with their husbands. The effect of these definitions Is to “normalize” this behavior and to buffer the wives from external definitions of the situations In which they find themselves.