Incarceration of Women

1

• Incarceration of Women
• Chapter 12

2
Acknowledging Gender Key Differences

• Sex gender differences
• Health issues
• Violence against women children
• Interrelationship between substance
• abuse, mental health trauma
• Socioeconomic status employment
• education

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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 ignored by the justice system
• women constitute a small proportion of the U.S.
  prison population (7) but the number of women
  prisoners is increasing faster than that of men
  prisoners.

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Womens Prisons

• womens prisons are located farther from friends
  family, inhibiting visits, especially for the
  poor
• womens prisons lack diverse educational,
  vocational, and other programs available in mens
  prisons
• womens prisons lack specialization in treatment

5
Female Prison Reform in 1800s

• separation of women from men
• provision of differential care for women
• management of womens prisons by female staff
• Elizabeth Fry 19th century English Quaker who
  was a champion of womens prison reform

6
Characteristics of Women in the Criminal Justice
System

• More than one million women are currently under
  criminal justice supervision in the U.S.
• Women comprise 17 of the total number of
  offenders under CJ supervision
• The number of women in state and federal prisons
  increased over nine-fold, from 12,300 in 1980 to
  114,979 in 2009.

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Women in the C.J. System

• The number of women in prison has increased at
  nearly the double the rate of men since 1985,
  404 vs. 209.
• Women have not become more violent as a
  group.Women are less likely than men to
  incarcerated for a
• violent offense (35 vs. 53)
• Women are more likely to have been convicted of
  crimes involving property (30) or drugs (29)
  .
• Drug offenses represent the largest source of
  population growth for women, as opposed to
  violent offenses for men.

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Who are the Women?

• Disproportionately women of color
• In their early to mid-thirties
• Most likely to have been convicted of a property
  or drug offense
• Fragmented family histories with other family
  members in the CJ system
• Survivors of physical and/or sexual abuse

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• Significant substance abuse problems
• Multiple physical mental health
• problems
• Unmarried mothers of minor children
• High school degree/GED
• Limited vocational training
• Sporadic work histories

10
Women in California Prisons

• The female prison population in California has
  grown more rapidly than the male prison
  population.
• Between 1983 and 2009, the number of women
  incarcerated in California increased five-fold,
  from about 2,000 to 11,000. There are currently
  9,500 women in CA prisons.
• Women make up about 7 of the prison population.
• There are 12,000 women on parole.
• Women make up about 12 of the parole population.

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Offense Profiles of CA Female Inmates

• In 2007, over two-thirds of female inmates in
  California prisons were serving sentences for
  property (33), drug (28) or other offenses
  (7).
• In 2007, 30 of female inmates were serving
  sentences for crimes against persons as compared
  to 52 of male inmates.

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Race Ethnicity

• African American women comprise only 13 of all
  women in the U.S., yet they make-up nearly half
  of the women in State and Federal prisons.
• In 2005, Black women were more than three times
  as likely as white women to be incarcerated in
  prison or jail.
• Similarly, in California, African American women
  and Latinas are overrepresented in our prison
  system.

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The Context of Womens Lives

• Pathways Perspective
• Relational Cultural Theory
• Trauma Theory
• Addiction Theory

14
Substance Abuse

• Approximately 80 in state prisons have substance
  abuse problems
• About half had been using alcohol, drugs, or both
  at the time of their offense
• Nearly 1 in 3 women in state prisons report
  committing the offense to support a drug habit
• Women offenders in state prisons report higher
  drug usage than their male counterparts

15
The Drug-Crime Connection for Women

• Onset in women faster deeper
• Onset of drugs first, crime usually follows
  closely
• Dual diagnosis relationship
• Role of self-medication trauma

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Violence Against Women and Children

• Witnessing domestic violence as a childmay cause
  increased vulnerability to victimization in
  adulthood
• Women in the CJ system have extensive histories
  of physical sexual abuse and are 3 times more
  likely than men to have a history of abuse
• One-third of women in state prison one-quarter
  of those in jails report being raped at some time
  in their lives
• Womens substance abuse is highly correlated with
  physical sexual abuse

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Mental Health

• Women in the criminal justice system have a
  higher incidence of mental disorders than women
  in general
• Female inmates in state prisons had higher rates
  of mental health problems than male inmates (73
  of females vs. 55 of males)
• Women offenders have histories of abuse
  associated with psychological trauma
• Approximately 75 with serious mental illness
  also have co-occurring substance abuse disorders
• Women with mental illness co-occurring
  disorders experience difficulties in prison
  jail settings

18
Pseudo-families

• a distinguishing hallmark of the subculture in
  many womens prisons (as compared with mens)
• 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

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Key Issues in the Incarceration of Women

• educational vocational training
• female programs tend to reflect stereotypical
  female occupations
• medical services
• women have more serious health problems In 2004,
  one of every 42 (2.4) women in prison was
  diagnosed as HIV positive compared to one of
  every 59 (1.7) men
• mothers their children
• majority of women are mothers

20
Children

• Approximately 70 of women under correctional
  supervision have at least 1 child under 18
• Two-thirds of incarcerated women have children
  under 18
• An estimated 1.3 million minor children have a
  mother under correctional supervision
• More than a quarter of a million children have
  mothers in jail or prison

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Why Punish The Children?

• Incarceration takes a significant toll on
  children who often witness their mothers arrest
  and are at risk of being separated from their
  siblings, either by being placed with relatives
  or in foster care.
• It is estimated that children of offenders are
  five times more likely than their peers to end up
  in prison themselves.
• One in ten will have been incarcerated before
  reaching adulthood.

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Major Differences Between Male and Female
Prisoners

• Women prisoners receive fewer visits than their
  male counterparts. Many states have only one
  womens prison which is located far away from
  children and families
• Women are less violent
• Women form close relationships and pseudo
  families while men join gangs
• Women were usually the primary caretaker of
  children prior to incarceration and plan to
  reunite with their children upon their release
  from prison

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National Institute of Corrections
Gender- Responsive Strategies
(Bloom, Owen, Covington (2003) Guiding
Principles

• Acknowledge that gender makes a difference.
• Create an environment based on safety, respect,
  and dignity.
• Develop policies, practices, and programs that
  are relational and promote healthy connections
  to children, family, significant others, and the
  community.

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Guiding Principles Continued

• Address substance abuse, trauma, and mental
  health issues through comprehensive, integrated,
  and culturally relevant services.
• Provide women with opportunities to improve
  their socio-economic conditions.
• Establish a system of comprehensive and
  collaborative community services.

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Barriers Facing Women Returning to their
Communities

• Welfare Benefits
• Housing
• Education and Employment
• Reunification with Children

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Legal Barriers

• Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Act of
  1996
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Higher Education Act of 1998
• Public Housing - Section 8
• Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

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Recommendations for Improving Reentry Services
for Women

• Alternatives to incarceration should be the
  sanction of first choice.
• For women who are incarcerated, planning for
  reentry should begin at the start of the prison
  sentence.
• Women should be released from prison with the
  tools and support they need to succeed in the
  community.
• Communities should be provided with the necessary
  resources to assist women and their families.
• Public policies should promote family and
  community well-being.

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The California Approach

• Instituting, for the majority of female offenders
  who will be released to the community, a reentry
  plan at reception.
• Promoting a continuity-of-care model which
  provides support services from incarceration
  through transition to the community.
• Designing wraparound services for each individual
  woman including substance abuse, mental health,
  trauma, family reunification, housing, financial
  assistance, educational, employment, childcare,
  transportation, and advocacy.