Women's Prisons Are Segregated by Sex

The social order in women's prisons has essentially remained the same since the 19 sixties. One possible explanation is that women don't join street gangs, so there's no street gangs to import into the prison. Another argument might be that women, for whatever genetic or social reasons, are less likely to engage in violence. In small prisons, you can rely on these decentralized mechanisms, things like norms and ostracizing people. But as the prison size and the men's populations grew, each one of those things becomes much less effective.