NCJ Number
78474
Editor(s)
B H Olsson
Date Published
1981
Length
84 pages
Annotation
Written from a feminist perspective, these articles deal with female employment in the field of corrections. Topics include administrative careers, legal problems of sexual integration of the prison guard force, rationales used to limit the employment of women as line officers in male institutions, and conditions in women's prisons.
Abstract
Individual articles address the obstacles women have faced in breaking into traditional male occupations and relate these experiences to women's entry into the correctional environment. Although a national survey has shown that the total percentage of women employees in the correctional work force increased from 12 to 23 percent between 1969 and 1978 and that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and affirmative action programs have made an impact on corrections staffs, policy has shifted from emphasis on safety of women employees to protection of inmates' right to privacy. This shift could pose legal obstacles for women in corrections. Stereotypes of females, along with observations on their truth or falsity, are discussed in many articles. Pertinent concerns are women's lack of body strength, supposed tendency towards leniency and vulnerability to opportunistic males, and alleged inability to assume responsibility and react decisively and strongly. Many articles deal with the topics of women as sex objects in the eyes of both male prison guards and male inmates. A review of the Supreme Court case of Dothard v. Rawlinson discusses this case as a possible setback to women in corrections. The decision allows height and weight requirements for employment in corrections if the requirements can be correlated with standards of strength needed for the job. It does not deal with inmates' privacy rights as an independent justification for limiting women's employment in male institutions, but privacy problems will inevitably arise as staffs become more and more sexually integrated. Finally, the female inmate is discussed, particularly in relation to female crime and the influence of the women's movement. Individual articles contain footnotes.