This project represents one of the few major pieces of research into women’s narratives of political incarceration and is an examination of first person accounts written against a backdrop of significant historical events in twentieth-century Germany. I explore the ways in which the writers use their published accounts as an attempt to come to terms with their incarceration (either during or after their imprisonment). Such an undertaking involves examining how the writer ‘performs’ femininity within the de-feminising context of prison, as well as how she negotiates her self-representation as a ‘good’ woman. The role of language as a means of empowerment within the disempowering environment of incarceration is central to this investigation. Rosa Luxemburg’s prison letters are the starting point for the project. Luxemburg was a key female political figure in twentieth-century Germany and her letters encapsulate prevalent notions about womanhood, prison, and political engagement that are perceptible in the subsequent texts of the thesis. Luise Rinser’s and Lore Wolf’s diaries from National Socialist prisons show, in their different ways, how the writer uses language to ‘survive’ prison and to constitute herself as a subject and woman in response to the loss of self experienced in incarceration. Margret Bechler’s and Elisabeth Graul’s retrospective accounts of GDR incarceration give insight into the elastic concept of both the political prisoner and the ‘good’ woman. They demonstrate their authors’ endeavours to achieve a sense of autonomy and reclaim the experience of prison using narrative. All of the narratives are examples of the role of language in resisting an imposed identity as ‘prisoner’, ‘criminal’ and object of the prison system.

Syftet med denna studie är att med ett genusperspektiv undersöka hur flickor respektive pojkar som misstänks för brott beskrivs i socialtjänstens yttranden som upprättas enligt § 11 i Lagen (1964:167) med särskilda bestämmelser om unga lagöverträdare. Studien baseras på 28 yttranden inhämtade från två olika domstolar i Stockholm. Yttrandena gäller 14 flickor och 14 pojkar i åldrarna 15–18 år som antingen är misstänkta för misshandel, stöld, våld mot tjänsteman eller brott mot knivlagen och andra farliga föremål. Empirin har bearbetats genom tematisk analys och analyserats utifrån begreppen genusregimer, genus, den manliga normen och avskiljandets logik, samt genusrättvetenskap. Vi har även analyserat resultaten utifrån tidigare beskrivna perspektiv på ungdomsbrottslighet. Vårt resultat visar på att det finns skillnader i beskrivningarna av flickor och pojkar, där flickor beskrivs mer positivt och pojkar mer negativt. Det finns vidare skillnader i fokus, där flickornas familjerelationer och pojkarnas fysiska hälsa och fritidsintressen betonas. Flickorna beskrivs i förhållande till sin kriminalitet som passiva och mindre farliga för samhället, medan pojkarna ses som aktiva och mer kriminellt farliga. Resultatet indikerar också att flickors kriminalitet konstrueras på olika sätt, men med övergripande kvinnligt kodade ord. För pojkarna framkommer både aggressivitet och sårbarhet i beskrivningarna. / The purpose of this study is to explore, from a gender perspective, how girls and boys accused of crimes are described in the social services' statements regarding juvenile delinquents. The study is based on 28 statements retrieved from two different courts in Stockholm. The statements concern 14 girls and 14 boys between the ages of 15 and 18 who are accused of various crimes. The empirical data has been processed through thematic analysis. Our results show that there are differences in the descriptions of girls and boys, where girls are described more positively and boys more negatively. There are also differences in focus, where girls' family relationships and boys' physical health and hobbies are emphasised to a greater extent. In relation to their criminality, girls are described as passive and less dangerous to society, while boys are seen as active subjects and more criminally dangerous. The results also indicate that girls' criminality is constructed in different ways, but with overall female-coded words. For boys, both aggressiveness and vulnerability emerged in the descriptions.