| Summary: | Research on women’s experiences in prisons still has many areas to explore. This study examines collective and self-efficacy examples from a convict criminology perspective. Unique to criminal justice ethnographic research, this study uses a public blog maintained throughout 10 months of incarceration as the data source. Results show many examples of both collective and self-efficacy within the women’s prison. Correctional staff influenced the ways in how women were able to advocate for themselves and each other, which influenced efficacy measures. Prisoner identity factors, race/ethnicity, age, sexual behavior, security classification, and religion also showed influences on prisoner collective and self-efficacy. Sexual orientation and gender identity could not be assessed for efficacy issues based on the data source. This research also provides a glimpse into the lives of prisoners in a medical facility and how collective and self-efficacy issues specifically applied to prisoners based on designation of care level and ability/disability. It was found that medical and ability issues could thwart selfefficacy in the prison, however collective efficacy was strong between prisoners to help each other get through difficult situations. This finding implies that while prisoners effectively advocate for themselves in women’s prisons, health and disability issues may lead to lower capacity to meet individual goals.
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