NCJ Number
62024
Journal
IES (INSTITUTION EDUCATIONAL SERVICES), PRISON LAW MONITOR Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: (SEPTEMBER 1979) Pages: 73,96-97
Date Published
1979
Length
3 pages
Annotation
CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN PRISONERS AND THE DISPARITY BETWEEN WOMEN'S AND MEN'S PRISONS ARE EXAMINED BY A FREELANCE WRITER, BASED ON CONVERSATIONS WITH FEMALE INMATES AND PRISON OFFICIALS.
Abstract
MYTHS ABOUT WOMEN PRISONERS INDICATE THAT THEY ARE EITHER PASSIVE DOMESTIC CREATURES OR AGGRESSIVE AND ASSAULTIVE AS A RESULT OF THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT. ALTHOUGH PRISONS FOSTER DEPENDENCY, MOST WOMEN INMATES HAVE BEEN ACTIVE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE SUPPORTED THEIR FAMILIES. THE MOST COMMON CRIMES FOR WHICH WOMEN ARE IMPRISONED ARE PROPERTY CRIMES SUCH AS EMBEZZLEMENT, FRAUD, AND FORGERY. WOMEN USUALLY COMMIT VIOLENT CRIMES AGAINST HUSBANDS AND BOYFRIENDS, USUALLY AFTER YEARS OF ABUSE. PRISON STAFF HAVE TRADITIONALLY TREATED WOMEN DIFFERENTLY FROM MEN, ALTHOUGH TREATMENT HAS GROWN SIMILAR IN RECENT YEARS. IMPRISONED WOMEN, HOWEVER, LACK UNITY AND TEND TO BE CRITICAL AND ALIENATED FROM ONE ANOTHER. CORRECTIONS PROGRAMS SEEM TO IGNORE WOMEN, AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE DEARTH OF EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO WOMEN INMATES IN BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL PRISONS. BECAUSE THE MOST PAINFUL ISSUE FACING MANY WOMEN IN PRISON IS SEPARATION FROM THEIR CHILDREN, A FEW PRISONS HAVE ESTABLISHED APPROPRIATE FACILITIES FOR VISITS BY CHILDREN. HOWEVER, THE PROBLEMS OF DISTANCE FROM CHILDREN, FOSTER CARE, AND ANXIETIES FACED BY MOTHERS REMAIN UNRESOLVED. NO REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)