Incarceration of Women

Chapter 12

Incarceration of Women Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Incarceration of Women  







Women: Forgotten Offenders Historical Perspective  The Incarceration of Women in the United States  The Reformatory Movement  The Post-World War II Years Women in Prison  Characteristics of Women in Prison  The Subculture of Women’s Prison  Males versus Female Subcultures Issues in the Incarceration on Women  Sexual Misconduct  Educational and Vocational Programs  Medical Services  Mothers and Their Children Release to the Community Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Why women tend to be the “forgotten offenders”  women commit fewer crimes than men  female criminality tends to be less serious

than male criminality  historically, women have tended more often than men to be “excluded” from the justice system, by lenient treatment  women constitute a small proportion of the correctional population (6%)  popular social attitude tends to put all females in a subservient position

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Imprisonment of Women in The US

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

Institutionalized “Sexism”: caused by low status of female criminality  women’s

prisons are located farther from friends & family, inhibiting visits, especially for the poor  women’s prisons lack diverse educational, vocational, and other programs available in men’s prisons  women’s prisons lack specialization in treatment and fail to segregate offenders who present special problems or have special needs

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

gender and crime: who’s arrested for what?

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

evolution of women’s prisons 1st female-run prison for women Indiana, 1873

run for women, by women

House of Shelter Detroit, post civil war

1st reformatory for women. run by Zebulon Brockway

Alderson Prison West Virginia, 1927

1st federal prison for women. Mary Belle Harris, warden

Women’s Prison Asso.

New York, 1844 created to improve treatment of & separate females from male inmates

END of reformatory movement “ran its course” by 1935; no new correctional models

Elizabeth Fry 1780 - 1845

1st to press for reform in treatment of women & children Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

female prison reform in 1800s guiding

principles separation of women from men provision of differential care for

women management of women’s prisons by female staff

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

features distinguishing female from male prisons

smaller

women’s prisons

looser security inmate-staff relations less structured

shorter sentences less committed to inmate code

less physical violence

less developed underground economy

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

female inmate profiles  predominately

Black (46%)

or White (36%)  between ages of 25 - 34 (50%)  never married (45%)  some high school (46%) or graduated (23%)  Similar to characteristics of male inmates

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

female prison subcultures (per Heffernan)  “square” (like ‘gleaning’)

 situational offender  adheres to conventional

 “the

life” (like ‘jailing’)

norms & values

 persistent offenders  act in prison as they did on the outside  antisocial, stand firm against authority  represent about half of female prisoners

 “cool” (like ‘doing time’)  professionals;

controlled & manipulative; ‘keep busy, play around, stay out of trouble and get out’ Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

“pseudo-families” 

a distinguishing hallmark of the “subculture” in many women’s prisons (as compared with men’s) women

often cope with the stresses of incarceration by bonding together in extended “families” of convenience. different women play the roles of various members of the family, including father, mother, siblings, grandchildren, even cousins

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

key issues in the incarceration of women  educational

& vocational training

female programs tend to reflect stereotypical “female” occupations  women’s programs less ambitious than men’s 

 medical 

services

women have more serious health problems

 mothers

& their children

167,000 American children (2/3 of whom are under 10) have a mother in jail or prison  65% of incarcerated mothers were single caretakers of minor children. 

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th

official sexual misconduct in prison  number

of cases of misconduct by male officers in on increase, with increase in female inmates 

e.g., Houston Cagle & Susan Smith, 2000

 Officers

may abuse authority to compel sex by withholding goods and privileges to prisoners or by rewarding them with same  42 states have enacted legislation prohibiting sexual misconduct

Clear & Cole, American Corrections, 8th