Indian Wives of Incarcerated Men Tell Their Own Stories: An Intersectional Narrative Analysis of Disenfranchisement and Resilience

Abstract

Objective: Guided by intersectional feminism and symbolic interactionism, the purpose of this study was to document the untold stories of women with incarcerated spouses in India. Background: When a family member is incarcerated, the task of emotionally and financially supporting the family often falls upon women, who are likely to be underresourced and overwhelmed. Women whose husbands are incarcerated in India are likely to possess multiple marginalized identities, increasing their vulnerability to intersecting forms of oppression. Empirical research is lacking on wives of incarcerated men in India, contributing to their invisibility in policy-making and programmatic interventions. Method: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 wives of prison inmates who resided in or around the capital city of Delhi, all of whom either held a lower caste identity or a Muslim religious identity. Transcribed interviews were analyzed following the steps of narrative analysis. Results: Results illustrate the diversity of storied experiences of wives of incarcerated husbands in India. Participants' narratives represented three types of stories: Ambivalent but Hanging On, Unconditionally Devoted, and Independent and Disillusioned. Four overarching themes characterized women's experiences with spousal incarceration: gendered care work, being stigmatized and sexualized, staying in the marriage, and ceilings of aspiration. Conclusion: This study renders visible women on the margins of Indian society, illustrating how they make meaning of extraordinary life circumstances and persevere through dire hardship.