The first edition of this work was published in 1997 and reprinted several times in response to popular demand. It focuses on the multiple hazards of discrimination due to race, gender and class - faced by black women in contact with the criminal justice process of England and Wales. This extensively updated and revised second edition includes substantial information about developments since that time. The text which includes accounts of black women prisoners and other black people concerning their treatment by and impressions of the system - has become key reading for practitioners and students alike. Ruth Chigwada-Bailey is an independent consultant criminologist and a former lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London and is well-known in the UK and abroad as a commentator on issues affecting black women, notably in relation to criminal justice. As indicated in the book she considers that - if the often adverse outcomes of the interaction of race, gender, class and criminal justice is to be taken seriously - there is a need not simply for sound information but to make things happen ."