NCJ Number
194882
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2002 Pages: 1-4-7
Date Published
April 2002
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article explores female inmates who consider themselves Native American and the extent to which they hold such an identity.
Abstract
Most data on incarcerated Native American women have come from studies and reports of Canadian inmate populations. Statistics for Federal and State adult (over 18) prison populations reflect a small number of incarcerated Native Americans. Gender distribution for this subpopulation was not available. A goal of this study was to test a new methodology for collecting race and ethnic identity data. The data were collected from female offenders incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Ohio during one week in August 1998. A specially constructed single page Native American identity questionnaire was used to collect data. Of the 596 inmates who participated in the survey, 37.4 percent reported that they consider themselves to be at least partially, American Indian, Native American, or aboriginal. Of these 223 inmates, 58.7 percent reported their tribal affiliations. The majority of survey participants -- 48.3 percent -- reported that they did not consider themselves American Indian, Native American, or aboriginal. The remaining 14.3 percent did not respond to this question. Many inmates reported they either were proud or felt good about their Native American identity. This is important because few data are available on the feelings female inmates have toward their ethnic or racial identities. The importance of a panethnic Native American identity is that if inmates hold a panethnic Native American identity, then a broad program that takes into consideration a large range of Native American cultural characteristics may be designed instead of having to design many different tribal-specific programs. Data also suggests the possibility that inmate intake processes may not allow for an accurate accounting of the Native American population. 8 endnotes, 17 references