There are more women in America's prisons than ever before in history, counted both proportionally and in terms of absolute numbers. Morash (Michigan State U.) and Schram (California State U.) highlight issues salient to their existences, emphasizing the operations of issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and social class. They lay claim to a women-centered perspective, describing the reasons for the influx of women into prison, the way judges decide to send women to prison, the special issues faced by mothers in prison, sexual abuse in prison, and mental illness. They promote the need for gender specific correctional programs and explore current prisoner litigations on behalf of female prisoners. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)