Progress Notes Week 10:
What data did you collect?
This week I have continued developing my literature review and found a scholarly journal about the Irwin Detention Center. The journal article I found was, “Punishment and Prejudice: Reproductive Coercion in Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Centers by Boehm, Inka Skłodowska. One of the many points that stood out to me in the reading is that forced sterilization is not considered unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, which enables these medical professionals to perform forced sterilization on these vulnerable women. Also, U.S. immigration detention centers are supposed to provide reproductive care to their detainees, however, this is another loophole that medical professionals are able to get away with. There is a punitive nature around forced sterilization that silences women.
In addition, this scholarly journal also examines the U.S legislation regarding the rights of detainees and landmark cases. For example, the landmark case of Skinner and Oklahoma, “ruled that states could not legally sterilize those inmates of prisons deemed habitual criminals” (Boehm, 2022). Historically, women detainees received forced sterilization as a form of punishment depending on the crimes they committed. However, the author argues that women must be protected under the eighth amendment, which is something she proves in her research. After completing a thorough reading and note-taking of this journal, I will be able to determine which areas I plan to incorporate into my research. Also, examining U.S. landmarks cases, would help me facilitate my own critical thinking process and how involved the state is with women’s bodies.
Scholarly Journal:Boehm, Inka Skłodowska. 2022.Punishment and Prejudice: Reproductive Coercion in Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Centers. The American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law 29, no. 4: 529-561, https://login.ezproxy.bowdoin.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/punishment-prejudice-reproductive-coercion/docview/2637412442/se-2?accountid=9681
What challenges did you encounter while collecting the data?
This scholarly journal focuses primarily on the reproductive coercion and medical abuse of women detainees and nothing about the sexual crimes committed by ICE agents. I do have investigative journals about sex crimes but not any scholarly journals documenting them. My aim now is to find scholarly journals about sex crimes against women detainees and the historical legacy around it.
What are your next steps?
I plan on collecting some more scholarly journals and completing my annotated bibliographies, so I can start formally writing my paper.