Essay on Crime Rates in Prison

Furthermore, one of the greatest problems for incarcerated women is sexual and physical abuse from correctional officers. Men are responsible for the majority of the abuse

Male and female offenders alike are incarcerated every day for various reasons. Some commit violent crimes while others are arrested for drug use or public-order offenses. The difference between the two are the rates at which they are incarcerated, the length or harshness of their sentences, for the same or similar crimes committed, patterns of drug use, and previous correctional history. While men still lead in violent crime rates, 54.3 percent male verse 36.6 percent female, women are more likely than men to serve sentences due to drug-related offenses and other nonviolent property crimes (American Corrections, 2016).

The findings on the website show how female offenders have been perceived as less violent offender compared to males (NCJRS). Although, in the past females were perceived to commit minor offenses, but there has been a rise in females committing violent offense (NCJRS). There has also been a rise in the percentage of female offender overall, which younger girls represent a larger proportion of juvenile arrest (NCJRS). The reason for this could be many younger girls are experiencing trauma, abuse, violence, and poverty issues at home. For example, if a younger female leaves in a home and all she sees is her mother and father fight, which could lead her to think that it’s okay. She also gets beaten by her father and her mother never say anything so she might think it’s a way of life. This cause for whenever this younger female gets into a confrontation at school, she automatically leads to violence. The reason why is that’s all she seen growing up. The victimization that the female offender go through cause them to have different needs compared to male offenders. The findings on NCJRS states how due to the different victimization females go through they are more likely to be addicted to drugs and have mental

In addition to adaptive roles, the film also portrays many instances and forms of prison violence. Prisons provide all of the necessary conditions to host violence (288). The film depicts instances of prisoner-prisoner violence in the form of sexual victimization, prison gangs, and illicit violence by officers against

Recidivism rates are much higher in men than in women. Seventy-eight percent of men are rearrested for the same crime or a different one within five years of their first offense. The rates for women are much lower, ten percent lower as a matter of fact. This means that only sixty-eight percent of women are rearrested within five years. This is because women have less violent tendencies than men. Women are also better at expressing themselves than men. When women get angry they usually cry or find some

Prison rape in jail can ultimately bring hierarchy between the weaker and the stronger. Although many would believe rape offenders in men’s prisons are mainly homosexuals, studies have shown that homosexuals are more likely to be sexually abused than perpetrators. In prison it is actually known that men become rapists to overpower their victims. Patriarchal systems of power, male incentive to overpower the weaker, exist both outside and inside of jail. In any community, women are seen as weak; therefore, men tend to overpower women. Most prisoners have this same mentality; therefore since there are no women to overpower they decide to suppress the weaker or smaller sized inmates. Victims are also effeminized and given tasks to perform such as cleaning dishes and cooking food. Physiologists believe that prison rape is not caused by the lack of women, but “mainly as a means by which people who have been stripped of control over the most basic aspects of their lives- when to eat a meal, take a shower, or watch TV- can reclaim some sense of power.”(Brook) According to Wilbert Rideau, a Louisiana prisoner wrote “the

Contrary to popular belief sexually transmitted diseases are not the only physical harm victims of prison rape endure. Many rape victims endure broken bones, broken noses, bruises, cuts, concussions, and the obvious genital injuries. Sexual assaults also increases violent behavior in prisons because inmates who feel like they may be a future target of sexually assault, defend themselves, and lash out in these violent rages and fights to establish themselves with a “tough guy” reputation to prevent any sexual misconduct from other inmates.

When we do research on daily prison life, we come across two typical but less than ideal situations: either social imaginaries cloud our judgment or information provided by the prisons themselves hide certain weak or bad aspects that they do not want to make public. We can also find information on TV, but most of the time it either exaggerates or minimizes the facts. In order to obtain more reliable information, we have to have access to people who are working or have worked in this institution, and such will be the sources of this essay. We will be describing and giving examples of prison violence according to three types of violence: sexual, physical and psychological violence.

In viewing the information contained in the aforementioned articles, one can immediately understand the underlying reasons that women are committing more crimes than men. Through the mid-1990s, the arrest rates of both genders has increased steadily, with the male rate far exceeding that of females (Gross, 2009, pp. 84). However, in recent years, a shift has been seen, with the numbers of female offenders rising significantly, especially at the juvenile level, which significantly raises the likelihood of re-offending later in life. As such, an understanding of the differences between the sexes in terms of the reasoning behind their offenses has long been researched.

In prison, women are considered to be less violent than male inmate. This difference is not taken into account upon constructing prisons for female offenders. In fact, construction is based on the correctional model about men being violent. Each gender interacts within prisons differently as well. For instance, males form gangs within prisons. They act territorially and fight to maintain power. In addition, men are more likely to congregate by race. On the other hand, females look to form small families that are not racially specific. Women will fight due to jealousy. However, they are more likely to vent their hostility upon themselves through self mutilation. The way the prison is set up also creates a difference. Prisons for males dived prisoners via classification based on the dangerousness of the crime. In contrast women’s prisons generally allow incarcerated women to mix freely (Stuart von Wormer & Bartollas, 2011).

For centuries the general public have perceived that the deep horrors of the prison system only existed within the majority of incarcerated male inmates. However now due to recent investigations researchers are finding that this is not the case. For a lengthened period of time the female prison system have been given low attention in comparison to male inmates

Females are said to be very emotional and if they were troublemakers at a young age they are said to possess “masculine traits and characteristics” (Siegal & Walsh, 2015). Males tend to commit crimes like robbery, assault and burglary. This has changed in the last decade. The rate of offending has decreased for males by 27 percent and females about 15 percent. “Girls have increased their

Compared to mental health workers correctional officers are assaulted nearly twice as much (Schenk & Fremouw, 2012). Sexual violence inside of prisons is issue in which the government has put effort in to address with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 however a study of black men was conducted and 43 % of those men indicated that they have a least heard sexual acts of violence occur inside of the prison (Rowell-Cunsolo, Harrison, & Haile, 2014). Across the United States about 4% of the inmates have been a victim of sexual assault (Daquin, Daigle, & Johnson Listwan, 2016). Other than sexual assault around 32% and up to 66% of inmates have been a victim of some type of physical violence (Daquin, Daigle, & Johnson Listwan, 2016). Also 18% to 49% of inmates have had property stolen from them (Daquin, Daigle, & Johnson Listwan, 2016). Also other factors that can contribute to violence occurring inside of prisons is gang membership. This is usually an identifier for the inmates to know who to attack and who to leave alone. Also sexual predators are subjected to some sort of violence because of the crime that landed them inside of the prison. The amount of time that you spend in prison can contribute to whether you become a victim or not (Ross, 2012). This is why prison overcrowding has become such a major problem for violence the

The distinctive cultural groups contrast to conventional norm of subculture has demonstrated the increase of prison enrollment. Norms that is labelled as deviant that can range from pickpocketing, stealing, rapes and murders. These vast differences of degree of deviant behaviors causes juvenile jails or regular jails. From the mass enrollment with the general populations in prison of the same sex that can range from different severity. While in jail many unwilling sexual intercourse if performed. Rape, is the unwanted and force sexual intercourse from someone of the same or opposite sex. According to the Editorial Board, “Previous studies have found that juveniles housed in adult facilities were at greater risk of sexual assault than

This paper will be a critical analysis of the book, “Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System. This paper will