Female Incarceration Research Paper

For the past centuries, women have been fighting for their rights, from their right to vote to equal rights in the workplace. Women resistance is the act of opposing those in power, so women can have a voice in the world. Women in prison are often overlooked. In the 1970s, the women prisoners’ rights movement began, and it is still going on today. The number of incarcerated females is rapidly growing compared to men. According to Victoria Law, a prison rights activist, she stated that the percentage of female prisoners increased 108%. This struggle is significant because women in prison are being silenced; they are the most vulnerable people in our country (Siegal, 1998). Women prisoners have the highest rate of suicide because they are

The state and federal prison systems have many inmates. These inmates sometimes arrive at prison with pre-existing conditions and many that are incarcerated for the long term develop serious illnesses during their stay. Inmates who reported a medical problem when they arrived at state prisons  across the United States in the year 2004 were 57.1% men and  43.3% women reported no medical problems upon arrival. (BJS 2018) Inmates who reported 1 medical issue when they arrived were 25.8% men and 28.6% for women. The Population that reported 2 medical issues is 10.0% for men and 14.3% women, and 7.1 % percent of men and 13.9% of women reported 3 or more medical problems In the same year in the federal system 62.5% men and 47.3% women reported no

America has one of the largest prison population and according to the bureau of the justice department. States and federal prisons held 1574700 inmates in December 2013.and it increased by 4300 inmates over the years end. More than two-thirds of prisoners were arrested within the first six months of release. These statistics show that prison as punishment alone do not work and some measures need to be but in place to decrease the population of inmates and recidivism. Prison should be used as both rehabilitation and punishment.

On average, women make up about 7 percent of the total federal and state incarcerated population in the United States. This has increased since the 1980s due to stricter and more severe laws that focus on recreational drug use, a lack of community programs, and fewer treatment centers available for outpatients (Zaitow and Thomas, eds., 2003). According to the National Women's Law Centers, women prisoners report a higher than statistically normal history of domestic violence in their immediate past, and the fastest growing prison population with a disproportionate number of non-Whites forming over 60 percent of the population. In fact, over 30 percent of women in prison are serving sentences for murder involving a spouse or partner. The incarceration of women presents far different cultural and sociological issues than those of men issues with children, family, sexual politics and more (NWLC, 2012).

After reading about the population of females in correction facilities, I came across the issue of incarcerating mothers. “Approximately 7 in 10 women under correctional sanction have minor children” (women offenders pg.7). Before reading this chapter, I have never put any importance to the challenge of sending mothers to prison. For the most part, I believe that judges and juries should consider the “motherhood” as a mitigating circumstance during a sentence. However, the age of the child and the crime should also play a role in the type of sentence given to a woman.

“When can I see my mom?” “Where is my dad?” “Is this my fault, can I do something to help?” These are all questions asked by the millions of victims who go unheard when their parents are sent away to prisons in the US. According to Rutgers University, 1 out of 28 kids is a child of an incarcerated parent, that means there are 2.7 million children in the United States without a mom or dad. (rutgers.edu) This number is so large because America has an “incarceration epidemic” which is affecting the lives of more than the convicted, it’s affecting the children who aren't considered, when their mom and dad are sent to prison. You see, according Federal Bureau of Statistics, the US population of adults in the correctional system is a little over 6 million. “While the United States has only 5 percent of

true of females. The incarceration rate of females has risen more than the male rate, although it is much less likely for women to be incarcerated. Those raised by single mothers and who are raised in homes where someone has been incarcerated are also risk factors for future incarceration.

Today prisons are overcrowded and over two million Americans, male, and female are sitting in jail or prison, and two thirds of those people incarcerated are parents (U.S. Department of Justice). Approximately two million of these children are separated from their mom or dad because of incarceration of which these are the custodial parent. These children suffer from poverty, inconsistency in caregivers, separation from siblings, reduced education, increased risk for substance abuse, alcoholism and incarceration themselves.

The rate of women being incarcerated in prisons has dramatically risen over the last decade. While these women are being locked up for crimes ranging from drug possession to murder, they often come into the prison system with children or pregnant. Nationwide, nearly 2 million children have parents in prison. The number of those with incarcerated mothers is growing rapidly. A recent report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that the number of minors with mothers in prison increased by more than 100 percent in the last 15 years [ (Schwartzapfel, 2008) ]. While some women must give up their children before or after they enter prison, a handful of women get to keep their children. These women serve their sentences at one of nine

The figure above compares the U.S incarceration rate with the rates of countries such as Canada, Australia, and European countries. The Western European democracies possess a rate of incarceration that taken together is only one-seventh the rate of the United States. Moreover, the rate imprisonment of Russia is only two-thirds of the U.S. rate. For instance, there is a reason why the rate of incarceration is significantly high compared to the rest of the world, profit. The bigger the number of people incarcerated, the bigger the pool of workers in correctional institutions.

According to Burnette and Newman (2005), female offenders that have severed antisocial behavior in childhood are more likely to exhibit these symptoms into adulthood. Some female offenders are still less cumulative than male offenders (Salisbury & Voorhis, 2009). In addition, recidivism in female offenders will be discussed three pathways. Moreover, the recidivism measure what usually not seen are males, greater incidence with females rather than males, and seen equally with separate personal and social results. Also, some female offenders ma have went through a great amount of abuse and trauma in their lives. Cauffman (2008) state some female offenders have mental illness issues, and treatment

In the early centuries, it was rare to hear about a woman who committed murder, or was incarcerated. However, times have changed, and it has become somewhat of a norm in the twenty first century. According to Kravitz (2010), he states that according to a study conducted by The Institute on Women and Criminal Justice, the number of women in prisons in 2006 is 105,000.

The population rate in prisons have increased substantially over the past few decades but the most surprising aspect of this statistic is that there are more women that are incarcerated than ever before. Crimes that were mostly committed by the male gender have taken a surprising turn on it. It seems that rate of females prisoners have risen significantly over just the past decade.

For numerous years, prison officials applied the same type of treatment for men and women. In the last decade with the increasing number of women incarcerated, research shows that women have different physical and emotional needs. For example, women are more attached to their children that they are leaving behind, and some have histories of physical and mental abuse. The creation of two programs, Key Crest and Forever Free were created to help with women specific issues. Recent studies done by National Institute of Justice studies found that participants in these two programs stayed drug and arrest free for over three years. Participants were tested and interviewed once a year for three years. The studies also showed that the programs provided aftercare and treatment in areas that were not addressed in previous years. Even though both varied in their approach, they both recognized the many ways there were to treat the needs of women and how they differ from men. The studies also show that gender specific programs do help inmates reenter into society.

According to the article, I think it would be safe to say that most of the women offenders are of younger ages around 20’s - 35’s. More than likely to be single and not likely to be married. The article said “Nearly half of women in both State prisons and local jails have never been