Work

Holloway Prison: Representations and Realities in the History of a Women’s Prison, 1902 to 1955

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores the media and cultural representations of HMP Holloway, London, England between 1902 and 1955 and contrasts this with the realities of the day-to-day female population and experience in the institution. Drawing on extensive historical analysis, the research examines how representations of the prison, and the women held within it, both titillated the public and reinforced existing or prevailing popular stereotypes about women’s criminality and imprisonment in the first half of the twentieth century. These representations contributed to a distinctive and ferocious reputation, that cemented Holloway’s notoriety in the popular imagination notwithstanding the contrasting realities of the institution.

Source: Women & Criminal Justice

DOI: 10.1080/08974454.2025.2492327

Author: Helen Johnston

Institution: University of Hull

Language: English

Topic: Criminal Justice and Penology

Subfield: Law

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Gender equality

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: British Academy