National Study of Women's Correctional Programs (From Criminal Justice System and Women, P 141-154, 1982, Barbara R Price and Natalie J Sokoloff, ed. - See NCJ-88349)

• NCJ Number: 88352
• Author(s): R M Glick; V V Neto
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): 74-NI-99-0052
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: Clark Boardman Company, Ltd
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This summary of a national survey of women's correctional institutions notes that blacks and poor women are overrepresented in jails and prisons and that most institutions are inadequate, with little job training, prerelease planning, or medical services.

Abstract

The National Study of Women's Correctional Programs studied 16 State prisons, 46 county jails, and 36 community programs in 14 States and gathered data through observation, interviews, and questionnaires completed by 1,607 inmates. It found that prisons were far from inmates' families and not accessible by public transportation. Capacity exceeded inmate population in almost all institutions, and despite the trend toward single cells, most women were still in multiple cells or dormitories. The survey identified four types of design for women's prisons: the campus, the complex, single building, and cottage. Counseling and treatment were seldom available, except in community-based programs. Educational programs in all prisons and large jails offered remedial education, equivalency test preparation, and sometimes junior college classes. Vocational training concentrated on the traditional areas of cosmetology, clerical skills, and food services. Work assignments generally involved institutional maintenance, and work release programs were very rare. Religious programs were usually available, but opportunities for physical exercise were often limited. Less serious offenders incarcerated in jails lived under the tightest security and had the fewest services. Of the incarcerated women, two-thirds were under 30 years old, and 50 percent were black. Approximately 80 percent were without male partners at the time of incarceration, and three-fourths had borne children. While 90 percent had worked at some time, one-half had been on welfare. Other topics addressed in the survey include prison administration, classification methods, inmates' attitudes, offenses, and criminal history. The article contains 16 footnotes.