NCJ Number
195990
Editor(s)
Pat Carlen
Date Published
2002
Length
279 pages
Annotation
Twelve essays address many of the contemporary issues that relate to women and their punishment by the criminal justice system, with attention to what is occurring in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The main themes of the essays pertain to the following questions that are currently being debated by corrections researchers and policymakers: Are women being punished differently from men? Should women be sentenced according to different criteria than are applied to men? Is a "gendered justice" viable? Is it desirable or possible for penal institutions to be used for "treatment"? Is it desirable or possible for the penal system to be used to address non-criminal issues of social justice? What are the purposes of women's prisons? What are the possible and desirable relationships between critique and reform? Some essays focus on efforts in sentencing and corrections policy to ignore gender as a factor in sentencing and in corrections. These essays note that the personal and socioeconomic conditions and needs that are associated with women's criminal behavior require distinctive corrections approaches that have implications for penal policy and penal theory. The efforts to reform correctional policies for women to promote therapeutic services that target women's needs is a theme of many of the essays; however, the essays also identify barriers to reform, such as systemic, institutional maintenance of a punishment regime that does not give high priority to programming based on what women offenders need in order to improve their quality of life during and after the administration of their sentences. Examples of effective correctional programs for women are provided as well. 374 references and a subject index