Criminal Justice And The Making Of Langata Maximum Women Prison, 1960-1965

Abstract

Abstract: Ending in the 1960s, the postcolonial reformatory laws established separate women's facilities with some recognition of the gendered needs of women. After the 1960s, the custodial and reform models merged, combining elements of their two styles with differing results throughout the British colonies. The legacy of these movements continues to shape prisons for women. First, with the exception of a relatively few "corrections" experiments that housed women and men together with common programming, most prisons in the 1960s were single sex. Second, Women’s prisons were shaped by the ideologies of domesticity and ideals of motherhood, focused on restoring female and maternal qualities. Women required saving twice, firstly from their criminality and then from their deviance from anticipated female behaviour. For this reason, the policy of Africanisation in Kenya, the transformation of colonial service introduced the idea of the Langata Women Prison. Therefore, this article seeks to assess the evolution and impact of the Africanization process on Langata Women Prison between 1960 and 1965. Keywords: Women, prisons, punishment, gender, Africanization, incarceration, correctional services