Real Story

Criminologist Rosemary Gido understands poverty.

Growing up in what she describes as Pennsylvania’s Appalachia, she witnessed it first-hand – deprivation, the constant wearying effort to make ends meet, a future with limited horizons. 

The combination of her background and a passion for research led Rosemary to dedicate her career to research that lifts up the human condition. In Rosemary's words, “If you have data and good research, that should feed into the humane process of advocating so we can see what the needs are and how we can make a better society.” 

For the last quarter-century, Rosemary has matched research and humanity as the editor of The Prison Journal, a peer-reviewed publication founded by the Prison Society in 1845 and the first American academic journal of criminology. Today, The Prison Journal focuses on theory, research, policy, and practices related to adult and juvenile confinement, treatment interventions, and alternative sanctions.

This Wednesday, the Prison Society will honor Rosemary, her work at The Prison Journal, and her commitment to research and humanity at its annual Love Above Bars celebration.

“Committed, accomplished, connected, and caring, Rosemary has fostered and inspired the field of criminology and the Prison Society,” said Claire Shubik-Richards, the Prison Society’s executive director.

“We are honored to have her as a supporter, a mentor, and as the editorial custodian of a key part of our legacy – The Prison Journal,” Claire added.

Rosemary first got to know The Prison Journal and its research when it was published by the Prison Society. The Prison Society ran The Prison Journal until 1993, when it was taken over by Sage Journals, an academic publisher. 

Rosemary also became familiar with the direct service aspects of the Prison Society’s work from 1994 to 1997. As a Pennsylvania State University faculty member taking students on field trips to the Centre County jail, she met Prison Society volunteers and learned about the role they played in the Commonwealth’s correctional facilities.  

“The Prison Society is my second home,” said Rosemary, who also served six years on the Prison Society’s board from 2004 to 2010. The Prison Society’s mission as well as The Prison Journal itself “seemed an excellent match for my skill set and my passion.”

Over Rosemary’s 25 years as editor, she produced special themed issues to echo the work of the Prison Society. Among them was an issue on mental health behind bars, focusing on county jails where governments “dump all the people on opioids.” Another special issue focused on reentry through the lens of the Black Lives Matter movement, specifically looking at women returning from prison. 

Holding a doctorate degree in sociology, Rosemary led the Center for Research in Criminology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she served on the faculty for 15 years. The author of two books on criminology, including “Women’s Mental Health Issues across the Criminal Justice System,” Rosemary served as research director for New York State Commission of Correction. 

In 2019, she founded the Poverty Research Institute to study concentrated poverty, particularly in rural Pennsylvania areas impacted by the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Honors abound, but getting there wasn’t easy.

Growing up in Wilkes-Barre, Rosemary graduated first in her high school class, but being valedictorian wasn’t enough to pave the way to college.

“My parents were poor,” she said. 

Her grandfather, a coal miner, died in a mining accident. Her father, who had only a sixth-grade education, took whatever shifts he could get at Wilkes-Barre’s Stegmaier Brewery, but the brewery often shut down in off seasons. Her mother and aunts worked from the age of 14 in silk mills. 

College wasn’t in the equation for Rosemary, but she managed to scrape together enough money to begin classes at Misericordia College, now Misericordia University in Dallas PA, outside Wilkes-Barre. There, a nun took an interest in her and arranged for a full scholarship. As Rosemary pursued advanced degrees, she became interested in researching the nexus between mass incarceration and poverty as it intersected with increasingly draconian criminal justice measures.

“People blame poverty on the poor instead of on institutional economic conditions that cause people to stay in poverty,” she said.

“What race you are and where you go to elementary and high school can lead you directly into prison through the school-to-prison pipeline,” Rosemary said. 

Growing up poor in Wilkes-Barre, she understood “how unfortunate, under-employed individuals, including women,” too often end up incarcerated. 

“People who wind up in prison,” she said, “are the most vulnerable in society and everybody else needs to think about that more.” 

Rosemary Gido never loses that insight – it’s in her bones. 

“There, but for the grace of God, go I,” she said.