Explores patterns of female crimes and punishments, from the witch hunts to the present, institutionalised violence and sexual abuse against incarcerated women, women loving women in prison, motherhood inside prison, battered woman syndrome, the media representation of women in prison, political education in prisons and acts of resistance, inside and out.

Karlene Faith challenges misconceptions of 'deviant' women, and celebrates the unruly woman: the unmanageable woman who claims her own body and who cannot be silenced.