Overseas-born female inmates in Australia: A prison within a prison

Based on national prison census data and interviews with 56 overseas-born women in Australian prisons, the article profiles this sub-group of inmates. The overseas-born women were found to be older, more educated, and more likely to be married; they were less likely to be drug addicts or to have been in prison before. For some, particularly those arrested on tourist visas and those who migrated to Australia as adults, the prison subculture was experienced as particularly alarming and alien. This culture shock was exacerbated by a lack of multicultural policy in the prisons and by restrictions related to nonresident visa status. The effect may be that of a prison within a prison, especially for the non-English speaker.