Gender Issues in Prison
Women now represent one of the fastest-rising segments in American prisons. In 2001, for example, the number of prison inmates has risen to 94,336, more than double the female prison population in 1990. Women now comprise 6.7% of the prison population, and the figure is expected to rise (Beck, Kerberg and Harrison 2002).
Corrections facilities, however, have been slow to respond to these changes. Many of these facilities were designed to incarcerate violent male inmates. They therefore remain unresponsive to the needs of female inmates.
This paper looks at prison experience from the point-of-view of the female inmate. First of all, this paper argues that the crimes most female inmates commit are quantitatively different from those committed by men. Because of these different reasons, prisons built around the need to contain violent male offenders are ill-equipped to meet the special needs of a growing female population. By taking into account the different reasons women go to prison and re-orienting their programs towards rehabilitation, this paper argues that prisons and correctional facilities could be more responsive to the needs of female prisoners.
Female Offenders
The differences between male and female inmates starts before imprisonment. For many women inmates, the seeds are sown in childhood, as a significantly larger percentage of women than men report being sexually, mentally or emotionally abused while they were growing up. Various studies of female prison inmates consistently find high rates of abuse suffered during childhood and as adults (McClellan, Farabee and McCrouch 1997).
For men, this vulnerability to abuse decreases once they reach adulthood. In contrast, the proportion of women who suffer victimization rises when they become adults. Women in prison are thus more likely to suffer mental or emotional problems, like depression. More female prison inmates are prone to suicide attempts. Some psychiatric problems are serious enough to warrant treatment (McClellan, Farabee and McCrouch 1997).
Corollary to this, women offenders are more likely to need substance abuse programs, since many use drugs and alcohol as a result of severe emotional problems (McClellan, Farabee and McCrouch 1997).
The growing number of women in prisons has also given rise to another disturbing trend...
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