Women in Corrections - Term Paper Example

Women in Corrections Abstract This term paper focuses on women in corrections and the associated issues affecting them while in the correctional centers. Traditionally, women have been sent to prison for different reasons and while there they undergo different experiences that degrade their lives. The punishment for women seems to have been unfair for them in the past. The society has witnessed an increase in the number of women inmates in prisons and, therefore, the essence of studying the topic. Most studies have not ventured into the reasons why women are involved in crime. Although the term paper does not exhaust the issues in the topic of study, it sheds a light into it and leaves room for more research. The paper shows women in suffering from the criminal justice systems initially designed for men. Most women in correction centers are victims of sexual abuse and even physical assault. They are also victims of drug abuse in most cases. Women in prisons, though they have similar needs to the men, need special care and emphasis. Women in Corrections Women in corrections refer to women in prisons. History shows that prison systems did not exist only until industrialization (Renee Lees, 2001). During the middle ages, the punishment for women found in adultery or murdering their spouses was by burning them at the stake. In prisons, women represent a very small percentage. Consequently, issues that affect women in prisons are less considered. Thus, women continue to suffer from the problems they face in prisons all over the world. Unlike men who are the majority in the prisons, women have special needs that are indispensable to address. For example, some women may be pregnant while serving their sentences and so there must be facilities to take care of babies in prisons. Women also face abuses while in prisons. In the year 2006, the Institute on Women and Criminal Justice (ICWJ) did some investigation, which showed that the female population rose by about 757% from 1977 to 2005 in the United States. Literature Review According to World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Correctional System by John Roberts, prisons came into existence thousands of years ago (Roberts, 2006, p.74-76). Prisons started as places to confine all sorts of lawbreakers. According to Howard League, people were held in prisons before their trial or as they waited for punishment. In local prisons, people drawn from all aspects are put together (Howard League, 2012). The modern concept of imprisonment emerged in the eighteenth century. Methods of punishing crimes included subjecting criminals to hard labor, transportation e.g. some convicts were shipped to British colonies like America and prison hulks i.e. anchored ships in the Thames, Portsmouth, and Plymouth. These practices, however, came to be abandoned for they were seen incarcerating. For instance, transportation, which was a much-used method of punishment, ended at the end of the eighteenth century and other methods to punish crime had to be found (Howard League, 2012). In the nineteenth century, handling of criminals saw major reforms. Capital punishment was seen by many as inappropriate as a method of punishing all crimes with the exception of murders. The concept of prisons and systems of prisons continued evolving during the twentieth century. Here, we are able to see experimentation with different methodologies, programs, purposes, and models. History also shows that the Egyptians and Babylonian Empire used prisons in ancient times. The Christian Bible also gives us evidence of ancient prisons, both in the old and new testaments (Roberts 74-76). According to the Correctional Services Act of 1998 of South Africa, prisons are used to enforce the sentences of the courts, promote the development of all prisoners and their social responsibilities and to detain prisoners. It is important to note that prisons are used for corrections by modern republics. In the U.S, prisons have become sources of cheap labor for the government with the amendment of the Constitution, which created a loophole for forced labor (Gelderloos, 2003). Despite the fact that jails existed in the past, banishment, public humiliation, execution, corporal punishment, and fines punished most criminals. Women who were guilty of crimes were isolated and at times excluded from the larger society. According to Durham (2006 p.106), both men and women were confined in the same prisons in the United States during the 1880s, i.e. there was no segregation according to gender. Durham also tells us that most women were imprisoned for minor offences including begging, vagrancy, larceny (theft) and prostitution though this does not suggest that no woman was arrested for a serious crime (Durham, 2006). In the year 2008, the Quaker United Nations Office through their publication, “Women in prison” stated that most women inmates all over the world were imprisoned for crimes in drugs and non-violent theft. The same article by Bastick & Townhead, (2009 p. 1) shows that a minority of inmates in the world prisons are made of women (from 2%-8%). Durham also points out that in the U.S., women inmates have always constituted the minority of all inmates (about 5.7% at the beginning of 1993). However, since then there has been a significant increase in the female population in the prisons (Bastick and Townhead, p 1). According to Durham (p 105), the increase in women inmates in prisons has led a number of problems. Although there has been physical separation of women prisons from men prisons in some countries like the U.S., problems in the women prisons resemble those experienced by men. Durham (2006 p.105) also gives the problems as crowding, increased costs, a host of gender-neutral problems and inadequate services. Women in corrections are not like male in that the needs of women differ from those of the men. Fortunately, according to Bastick and Townhead (2009 p. 2), the fact that women in corrections have needs which have not been met has received a widespread recognition. In the year 2002, to implement the Vienna Declaration, the UN General Assembly recommended that the states should review, evaluate, and modify their policies, legislation, practices, and procedures relating to criminal matters in a way that would be consistent with the prevailing legal systems, so that women could be treated fairly. The UN assembly also recommended a development of national and international strategies for crime prevention and criminal justice, which would address special needs of women as prisoners. According to Lees (2001), entering prison life is not only damaging to women but also to their children. Lees says, “The entry of women into the legal system reflects a culmination of the numerous disadvantages that women encounter on a daily basis” (Lees 2001). Women often perform many unpaid chores in the domestic arena including playing a very important role in taking care of the children. Their absence from home, therefore, will make the family vulnerable to economic problems Lees (2001), Discussion According to Lees (2001), women in prisons have the following features: 85% of them have experienced sexual abuse Those who have experienced physical abuse constitute 70% 73% were victims of mental problems Drug-addicts constituted 70-90% Those who have attempted suicide were 39% Half of them had young children who depended on them 30% were women from low living standard areas (Sydney suburbs) According to the findings above, Lees goes deeper into the issue of women in corrections by investigating what the women were undergoing in Australian prisons. Most of the women (71.6%), ended in prison due to non-violent offences related to property. Sexual abuse is topping the list of the issues facing women inmates. Smith in her article: Prison and Punishment, mentions that women who ended in prison in the past gave themselves into sex in order to receive better treatment, food, and freedom (Smith, 2006). Thus, pregnancy was something common for women in prisons. Physical abuse refers to vices in the domestic places where women may have survived fighting from their male spouses. Some women were serving sentences for fighting back for self-defense of to the defense of their children, leading to death of their partners. Mental problems easily affect women due to the burden they have to bear concerning the children left behind at home and the harsh conditions in the prison environment (Durham, 2006 p.117). Durham also mentions that there has been an increase in females in prisons because most of them have engaged in using drugs, which are expensive to purchase. Such women are involved in non-violent theft in their quest to obtain finance for drugs. Women who have suffered physical assault, battering, and indebtedness have a likelihood of committing suicide, though the percentage of such was low (Lees, 2001). A study done in Australia ‘Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice no. 264’ shows that women who use drugs and have been imprisoned have a higher probability of facing economic hardship, abuse and other life misfortunes than men (Rushforth & Willis, 2003). The study was also able to establish that women who had a history of drug use likely to commit a crime than the drug addict men (Rushforth & Willis, 2003). Therefore, the increase in the number of female inmates concerns the history of the individuals. Use of drugs among women has been shown, in this case, to produce more crimes by women than men. We are shown that earlier research on alcohol and illicit drug use did not separate women from men and, thus, samples of a group were just taken (Rushforth & Willis, 2003). This led to very little knowledge about women involvement and the effects associated in the use of drugs. Covington (2001) supports the fact that most female inmates are victims of drug abuse. From available research, it is now evident that abuse of drugs is strongly linked to crime not only in women but also in men. There are common risk factors in women who use drugs and participate in crimes. These factors include childhood abuse and neglect, parental issues, mental illness, associating with other drug users and social supports. Women become drug addicts or end up committing crimes easily due to family problems. The study points out that about half of females in Australia who were undergoing treatment for drug abuse had suffered childhood sexual abuse. Women with mental illnesses such as depression were found to have a high tendency of engaging in drug abuse (Rushforth and Willis 2003). According to Covington, women turn their anger inward, are susceptible to suicidal behavior, more depression, and could easily abuse themselves. There seems to be other underlying factors that put women vulnerable to committing crimes. To understand why women commit crimes, it is important that research incorporate the input from female inmates. This will give first hand information that is very crucial in looking at women in corrections. A study by Covington (2000) which asked the female inmates what could have been done differently to avoid them entering the criminal justice system addressed this issue. The women mentioned needs including job training and opportunities, education, development of local-based substance-abuse treatment, housing, psychological, and physical safety, response by a community to violence targeting women, economic support and positive female role models (Covington 2000). Any program to address the needs mentioned can help a great deal in preventing other women committing a crime and ending up in correction centers. Bastick and Townhead support the sentiments by Covington. Worldwide women crime is related so close to their poverty in the society. Most of women in the correction centers across the world, according to Bastick and Townhead, came from society segments that were disadvantaged socially and economically. Women in the correction centers face a number of problems that need attention in order to enable them to come out changed people. Prisons have laid focus on the needs of male inmates more than the needs of women. This could be because in the past the women inmates were the minority in the prisons. In the U.S. when men and women shared correction centers, women inmates were preyed upon by jailers and the male inmates and, thus, sexual abuse was very high (Smith, 2006). In many countries of the world women in prisons suffer from gender-based violence. Again, because of their small numbers in prisons, women serve their sentences in conditions that are harsher than men are. While serving their sentences, women inmates in some countries undergo strip-searching especially during visits by family members (Bastick & Townhead, 2009 p. 21). This process contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 7, which states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment”. This action is also a loophole that makes women in prisons victims of sexual abuse while in correction centers. In many countries, there are few women prisons and this has led to women imprisonment far away from their families. This has to happen although it research shows that contact with the family helps in preventing women from repeating their crimes (Pearce, 2003). According to Bastick & Townhead, 2009) women in prisons across the world are discriminated against in nearly all aspects of prison life, which include education, healthcare, employment and pre-trial detention decisions. However, the discrimination is not intended but a result of systems, which were designed for men (Bastick & Townhead, 2009p.14). Recommendations From the information in this term paper, though not exhaustive in itself, some recommendations can be drawn for the improvement of the criminal justice systems. The prisons across the world should lay emphasis on the needs of women in prisons. Prisons should address drug abuse problem that research strongly linked to crime by women. Countries across the world should increase the number of prisons and equip them with necessary facilities for women. By doing so, contact of women and their families will be made easy and, thus, they will get the needed support. There is a dire need in prisons for the establishment of gender-responsive programs for women to benefit. Governments in the world could also find out alternatives for women imprisonment. For example, detention of women before trial could be avoided which would help reduce the soaring numbers in the prisons. Conclusion The issues that affect women in corrections are issues that affect the society at large (Covington, 2001). Therefore, the society should be involved in alleviating problems such as violence against women, sexual abuse of women, poverty, and drug abuse. For women in corrections to successfully come back to the society and avoid reoffending community conditions must change (Covington, 2001). For the society to understand women, we must use other women because they seem to understand each other. Most women who have come out of prison successfully attest that they received support from women role models who were either prison staff or caring relatives and friends. Works Cited Bastick, M. & Townhead, D. (2009). Women in prison: A commentary on the rules standard and minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. New York: The Quaker United Nation’s Office. Print Covington, S. (2000). Creating gender-specific treatment for substance-abusing women and girls in community correctional settings: In Assessment to Assistance: Programs for women in community corrections. Latham, Md: American Correctional Association. Print Covington, S. (2001). A Woman’s journey home:Challenges for female offenders and their children. Washington DC: Center for Gender & Justice. Print Durham, M. A. (2006). Crisis and reform: Current issues in American punishment. New York: NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Print Gelderloos, P. (2003). The function of prison. Montreal. Print Lees R. (2001). Women in prisons. (Published doctoral dissertation). Web. Retrieved from http://www.justiceaction.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=32. [ (02) 9660-9111] Pearce, J. (2003). Prison system 'failing women'. The guardian. Print Roberts J. (2006). History of Prisons. UK: Cengage learning. Print Rushforth, C., & Willis, K. (2003). Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice no. 264. Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology. Print Smith, B.V. (2006). Rethinking Prison Sex: Self Expression and Safety. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Vol. 15, (2) p. 185. Print The Howard League for Penal Reform. (2012). History of the prison system (1st ed.). London, UK: Howard League. Read More