Week 6 Punishing Women Offenders Flashcards
(25 cards)
Incarcerated Women
- Invisible, among incarcerated people
- Unless we focus only on women
- Then, responses are sometimes paternalistic
- We regard female inmates in childlike ways
3 Reasons for Invisibility
- Women are a small proportion of the incarcerated population (7%)
- Women are incarcerated for less serious and less dangerous crimes
- Imprisoned women are less likely to demand reform, relative to men
- But, their proportion is growing
History of Institutionalization
- Pre-custodial punishments
- Early prison housing
- Co-ed, but gendered work for women
- Extremely high risk of rape for women, seen as women inviting the rape and were flogged to death
- Women were seen as sexual deviants that placed guards at risk
- The system was designed to meet the needs of the majority
- Sex/rape in early prisons
- Contradiction in understanding rape in prison
Reforms to Women’s Confinement
- Early recognition of social context of women’s crime
- Elizabeth Fry a voice for Difference gets 3 reforms and argues that men and women are different
- Sex Segregation
- Female guards
- Decreased hard labor
- Reforms in the U.S.: Magdalen Home (1830)
- Sex segregated
- Rehabilitation of prostitutes
- Restore the moral compass of prostitutes
- 3 Religious instruction
Reforms Continue
Ambivalence
- Purifying women was a priority
- But sexual abuse during incarceration was common
“Fallen women” and “fallen men”
1880s Quaker feminism
- Were women victims of male judges, wardens, and guards?
New Confinement Options
Custodial placements held men and women
New idea: REformatories
- Women only
- Net widening
- Indeterminate sentencing
More reform
- Sex-segregated Custodial Placement (Prisons)
- Worst of both worlds for women
- punitive, indeterminate, non-rehabilitative
Incarceration during the 1960s-80s
Cottage style housing
Became more like men’s housing
- because it often is men’s housing leftover
Geography is a problem
Programming is a problem
These problems remain important concerns today
Incarceration during the 1960s-80s
Cottage style housing
Became more like men’s housing
- because it often is men’s housing leftover
Geography is a problem (too far away from home and women are often the caretakers)
Programming is a problem (intense profound need for psychological counseling that relates to physical, sexual, and domestic abuse)
These problems remain important concerns today
Women’s prisons
Becoming increasingly similar to men’s
- less reform-oriented and more punitive than ever
Institutionalize sexism: (policies that restrict opportunities for women)
- Within prisons, these policies are justified by women’s smaller numbers
Three areas of institutional sexism right now
- Women are incarcerated farther from home
- Fewer educational, vocational, and other programs
- Little or no specialization/segregation
Women’s imprisonment is rising
Women’s proportion among the incarcerated is growing
- Behavior change?
- Policy change?
With the growth, women comprise around 10% of the incarcerated population
- Criminalizing help-seeking behavior
Incarcerated Women
Race is the key factor
Most are poor
More likely than other women to
- Have been abusively disciplined
- Have been drug involved
- Have worked as prostitutes
- Have witnessed domestic violence
Incarcerated women often believe that these factors are related to their criminality
Girls’ Correctional Facilities
Status offenses vs delinquency
Conditions are harsh
- Rule strictness
- Sexual assaults
- Few programs
Psychological Aspects
Self-destructive behaviors
- Internalzaied anger, self-mutilation
- History of sexual abuse
Access to mental health care
- “Inundated” with requests for care
- Yet, little or no trained, clinical care
- 17% of women in jails and 23% of women in prison receive psychotropic meds
Impact of psych meds
- On fetuses
- On trial outcomes
Psychological Aspects
Self-destructive behaviors
- Internalzaied anger, self-mutilation
- History of sexual abuse
Access to mental health care
- “Inundated” with requests for care
- Yet, little or no trained, clinical care
- 17% of women in jails and 23% of women in prison receive psychotropic meds
Impact of psych meds
- On fetuses
- On-trial outcomes
The Drug War
The biggest explanation for women’s increased incarceration
Lack of treatment out and inside of prisons is a problem, recidivism is high for drug offenders
Gender-specific drug rehab (stop the trauma from the gendered violence and you stop the drug use)
The Opposite of Rehabilitation
Prison time can make women’s problems worse
Shame and self-esteem: a gender-specific problem?
Little or no ed/voc intervention
Greater distance from family
- Traumatizes and makes women hopeless
- Remember, they are incarcerated for less serious crimes
- What is the goal of incarceration
Parenthood
On average the incarcerated women jas 2-3 dependent kids
- 233.600 kids have a mother who is incarcerated
80% of women and 60% of men who enter prison are parents
- But, nearly all the mothers and only half the fathers have custody of their children
- These parent-child relationships affect male and female prisoners differently
- If the woman has custody of the kid, the kid goes to the grandparent or a foster home
Gender, Parents and Prisons
Children are the primary stressor for women, but this is not true for men
- Who cares for the children
Impact on the children is devastating and long-lasting
Among the imprisoned, women are more likely than men to have been the financial providers
- Upon release, women’s income plummets
- And the children suffer to
Should kids and moms stay together?
Some argue that keeping family intact is better for future crime rates
Others argue that this unfair to kids
Other nations allow young kids to stay with their moms
In the US, less than half of moms get at least one visit from their kids
Loss of custody
Imprisoned women’s greatest fears
Termination of parental rights
Moms are more likely to have rights terminated than dads
First priority upon release is to re-establish custody
In prison, our programming socializes women into their roles as mothers, while simultaneously cutting them off from their children
Prison Programs
Moms are the more likely breadwinners and need vocational training
Women are less educated than men when entering prison
- They are also more likely to request educational programming
In the rare event that women sue, it is most likely to be over access to programs
12% of women received any programming, according to Belknap
4% received programming for sexual victimization
Healthcare
Incarcerated women have lacked education and resources to care for themselves well
- This continues in prisons
Women are more likely to be HIV/AIDS patients
- 3.2% of women and 2.2% of men
- Why might this be true?
Prenatal and Postpartum Care
About 1 in 5 facilities lack ob/gyn care at least weekly
5-6% of women entering prison and up to 9% of imprisoned women are pregnant
- Remarkable absence of care and planning for these babies
Mental Health Care
There is a pronounced overlap between drug abuse, sexual abuse, and mental health problems among incarcerated women
- About 45% of women need treatment
Social workers, not doctors
- Dealing with the most urgent needs
- What do women seek help for?
- Successful sometimes means compliant
