Female Inmates (Corrections) - Research Paper Example

? Female Inmates (Corrections) Introduction Female inmates in many parts of the world have been increasing over time.A case study of United States indicates that by 2004, both the federal, state and the national prisons housed 1,433,793 inmates serving sentences of more than one year. Of these inmates, the male inmates were 1,337,668 while the female inmates accounted for 96, 125. The number of the female inmates has been on upward trend. From 1977 to 2004, the population of the inmates has increased by 757%. This statistics are an increase of 10 to 64 female inmates per 100,000 female residents from 1977 to 2004. Even though the female arrest rate in US is less than that of male arrests rate, the growth rate of the female prisoners in US far exceeds that of the male inmates. Since 1985, United States of America has witnessed an average growth of 11.1 %, and this is relatively above the 7.6 % rise in the male inmates’ population. Currently, there are over 200,000 female inmates in the United States; this is a growth of over 800% over the three decades. The male population grew by 416% over the same period of time (CHRLR 14-18). Type of Women in Prison As noted above, the fastest growing segment of the United States prison population comprises of the women. The women held up in the prisons are due to variety of reasons. The offences committed by the females are diverse but a close examination of the women indicate that there are demographic and experiences common among the female offenders. Most of the women inmates are drug addicts who were involved in the drug addiction in order to escape from the life hardships and trauma faced by these women in their past life. The majority of these female inmates were arrested while acting as mules in the drug trade. Half of women in the national and state correction centres attest to have committed the crime they are incarcerated for under the influence of drugs or alcohol. From 1999 to 2008, the arrests of women due to cases rated to drug violation accounted for 19 % increase compared to a mere10 % increase for men. Many women in prison happen to have been involved in domestic violence in their lives and a common characteristic is that most of the female inmates are from poor backgrounds. It is worthy to note that nearly half of all women in prison are serving sentences for non violent offence and had been jailed in the past for a non violent offence. Two thirds of the female inmates had two or fewer convictions prior to the one they are serving. This indicates high rates of recidivism among the female inmates. According to Koon (5), the following experiences are common among the female inmates: Most of the female inmates are likely to have had a high school education. It’s also critical to understand that most of the female inmates are single; they have never been married or had a divorce. Most of the female prison inmates were arrested and convicted when they were unemployed. Physical abuse is also a common feature of the women in prisons; the inmates are likely to have experienced domestic violence or sexual abuse in their lives. The trauma could then have led them to drug and alcohol, which then later led to their offences. As of 2004, the percentage of women in jail due to physical related consequences was 73% compared to 53% of men who had the history of sexual or physical abuse. Historical Treatment of Female Inmates Even though the rate of increase of the female inmates has remained to be higher than that of men, majority of inmates are male. This has led to prison programs being tailored to address the issues related or faced by the male prisoners and tends to overlook those faced by the female inmates. This is despite of various researches that show that female inmates face more stress and hardships in prisons unlike the male counterparts. Emotional stress due to family breakdown from their children often affects female inmates much more compared to the male inmates. The female prisoners have been discriminated and subjected to unrightfully treatment in prisons for many years. The female inmates have on many occasions been denied their rights of equal protection and programming in prisons. A good example of discrimination of women inmates occurred in Jeldness V. Pearce. The female prisoners had to sue their prison because male prisoners were allowed to choose from twelve vocational classes while the female prisoners could choose only from two vocational classes. The prison argued that the difference was due to ‘legitimate penological’ interest because the population of the male inmates was larger. However, the court ruled in favour of the female inmates. It decided that equal opportunities should apply across the board; the women are entitled to diversity and the same number of classes just as the male inmates regardless of the population (CHRLR 14-18). This is a clear indication of historical treatment of women prisoners. The female inmates have faced ill treatment when it comes to issues of adequate medical care for inmates. All the prisoners are entitled to medical examination after arriving in the incarceration centre; the prisoners should be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, and the air borne diseases like tuberculosis. Courts have passed rulings directing the prisons to perform these tests and examine any other infectious diseases. However, it is regrettable that some female inmates do not receive a medical check up after being admitted. This is despite researches that show women prisoners have different and more severe health problems than the male prisoners. The right to adequate medical care is well addressed in Chapter 23 of the JLM, and the section gives a detailed medical requirement for women. Pregnant inmates have also faced discrimination in prisons. Many women report pregnancies at the time of the imprisonment. 4% of women report cases of pregnancy in state prisons, 3% in federal prisons and about 5% in the correction centres nationwide. The pregnant women are morally entitled to good care. In New York State, the pregnant female inmates have right to comprehensive prenatal care which is a package of medical examination, HIV education, nutrition advice and exercise. In addition, shortly before an inmate delivers, she should be moved from the prison to other place and provided with comfortable accommodation. However, some correction centres do not provide these vital requirements to the ladies (CHRLR 14-18). There also exists sexual assault, harassment and privacy concerns faced by female inmates. Majority of the female inmates are guarded by male prison wardens. The female inmates sometimes are subjected to unreasonable searches by the male wardens that may amount to sexual harassment. Despite of the constitution guaranteeing the right to be free from these unreasonable searches and seizures of the property, the Supreme Court has found that this right is limited in prisons because of the security concerns. However, some courts have recognised that the routine searches by male prisoners do violate the women rights. In Jordan V. Gardner, female prisoners protested against the policy of the prison of random full body pat down searches by the male guards. These searches normally add to trauma to women who may have had physical and sexual abuse in the past in addition to being sexual exploitative. These few examples discussed above are pointers to historical treatment of female inmates by the prison administrations, social injustice treatment by the society also exist. The social injustice treatments by the community include some reported cases of isolation on completion of jail terms. These have led to the many cases of recidivism as the inmates are not well received in the society; hence they indulge in drugs and find their way back to prisons. Available Services for Women Inmates. Different correction units have different services for the female inmates. The most common services being provided by many prisons across the board include the educational and vocational training services. According to Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC), the only programs that are mandated for offenders both the females and males are the education for the inmates under the age of 18 and the special education for those below the age of 21. The DOC has also an Offender Management Plan designed with each individual inmate for treatment and programming during the inmates’ incarceration. Differences between the female inmates and the male inmates Various researches carried on the experiences of women in prisons have shown that they differ from the experiences of their male counterparts. The biological and social orientations of women make them have different issues compared to the male inmates. For instance, female inmates will be stressed and lose their children to Child Protective Services. Most of the women will come to prisons when they have faced physical and sexual abuse. As a result, the concerns for pregnancies are high among these women. They will require special services like provision of sanitary towels unlike the men. In addition, most of the women are convicted when they are already drug addicts. As a result, the major issue with them will be how to get the drug while in the prison, hence the need for rehabilitation unlike men who enter the prisons due burglary, robbery and many other heinous crimes which are not related to drug abuse. Studies show that men have different ways in which they cope with life while incarcerated compared to their female counterparts. Women will likely form family structures in prison in an effort to emulate the roles they will assume in society. This is contrary to men who tend to be aggressive towards the other male convicts. The women will also likely be worried about issues affecting their children. According to Koon (23), 64% of the women in the society are the primary guardians of the children compared to 44% of the men. When these women get arrested and imprisoned, the children are left without a guardian hence when in the prison; the females will be stressed by the fate of their children. Koon (32) points out that it is likely that men just like the women had traumatic experiences in their past life. However, researches show that women experience higher rates of trauma. Even though both men and women will have issues of loneliness and pain in prison, women remain to be more prone towards traumatic and family past. In addition, the personal issues of women are more as compared to that of men. Correctional Programs The causes of the increase in female inmates have been due to drug and alcohol abuse. Statistics show that as of 2009, 30% of women in New York Prisons were incarcerated due to drug related offences. The drug offences amounted to about 91% of the rise in women number being sentenced to prison as from 1986 to 1995 (CHRLR 17). This trend has been on upward trend up to date. Cases of recidivism are common among the female inmates convicted of charges related to drug and alcohol abuse. To reduce these trends and help the female inmates and at the same time help decongest the correction centres through reducing recidivism, drug treatment programs should be put in place. Each correction center should have the drug treatment program geared at addressing the individual cases. The programs should be tailored to rehabilitate the female inmates and at the same time providing psychological counselling to address the trauma that the inmates could have gone through. The inmates sentenced under the Rockefeller drug laws should be advised to apply for resentencing under the Drug reform Act. This will ensure that the judges directly monitor the treatment programs and the progress of the offenders. The offenders will follow a regimen that will entail detoxification, counselling, vocational courses and group meeting that enhance sharing of experience. Summary In United States, the number of female inmates has been increasing each year. Most of the female inmates share common characteristic behaviours that lead them to being imprisoned. These include the drug and alcohol abuse and past life of physical and sexual harassment. Most of these inmates are high school graduates and in most occasions, they are single parents. Despite of laws that are enacted to protect their rights, female inmates encounter a lot of discriminations in prisons compared to the male inmates. Recidivism cases are also high among the inmates. It is therefore of necessity to come up with comprehensive programs that will benefit the female inmates and at the same time help the prisons. Works Cited Columbia Human Rights Law Review (CHRLR). “Special Issues of Women Prisoners.” A JailHouse Lawyers Manual 2.4 (2011): 14-18. Print. Koon, Timothy. Our Female Prisoners: Who are They, Why are they in Prison and how they could be helped. Kuala Lumpur: IMSC, 2005. Print. Read More