Gangs Vs Women In Male Prisons

When the criminal justice system was established, the main objective was to create neutrality and fairness between the sexes. Even though people might believe that there is no such thing as ‘stereotyping’ in the criminal justice system, it is quite obvious that women are constantly being look down upon because of their sex. In general, women tend to be treated like fragile objects that could break at any moment; the truth is that women can be strong and courageous just like men. Society stereotypes women and the criminal justice system is no different.

In 1971, the Federal Bureau of Prisons relocated some low risk woman inmates in an overcrowded Virginia prison to a minimum-security prison in West Virginia that housed young males (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). This was the birth of coed prisons, which house both female and male inmates in one facility (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Cocorrections are how both females and males interact in prison under the guidance of one administration (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). There are approximately 52 coed prisons in America, housing an estimated 23,000 males and 7,000 females (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Since these coed prisons began, it has been argued that they provide a benefit to some correctional problems listed below.

Male prisoners also continue to make up the majority of the prison population. However, women prisoner rates have been on the rise and have exceeded that of male growth rates since 1995. In fact, due to the increase of the women prison population, various issues have arisen which require women to be treated differently from men. Such issues correctional facility’s face because of this increase include program delivery, housing conditions, medical care, staffing, and security (American Corrections, 2016). These problems are in part due to the different social and economic differences women are faced with in prison and while preparing for their release back to society.

Gang violence is nationwide and is one of the most prominent problems in the prison system today. Gangs are known to attempt to control the prisons/jails, instill fear within the prison system and throughout the society, and bring negative attention to the system. “Gang affiliated inmates comprise about 18 percent of the 18000 inmate population.”(Seabrook) A growing numbers of inmates and a large amount of them serving longer sentences for violent crimes suggest a notable increase in gangs and violence in the prison system in the upcoming future.

Did you know that there are 1,150,000 gang members in the United States and that 24,250 of them are prison gangs, since the data research was done in May of 2017 (Statisticbrain.com)! You rarely hear about prison gangs because everything that goes on is inside the prison. When people do hear about prison gangs, it’s normally from a TV show or movie which leads the watchers to perceive prison gangs based on what they’ve watched. Typically, motorcycle gangs and street gangs are the most commonly heard about unlike prions gangs. I believe the public should be more aware of what prison gangs are, how they affect our society, the role social media plays, how they interact in the Criminal Justice System and ways we can improve the prison gangs

Prison gangs within the penal system are problematic and a multifaceted issue for several reasons. One reason gangs are so problematic in the penal system is due to the threat they impose on others, including other types of gang-bangers, non-gang affiliated inmates, correctional staff, prison administration, and the overall security of the facility itself. According to research, “A composite measure of gang misconduct represents the threat that particular gangs pose to prison order” (Gaes, Wallace, Gilman, Saffron, & Suppa, 2002). In fact, “There is little doubt that prison gangs are the source of considerable misconduct and present serious challenges to the management of prisons, which is why numerous strategies have been employed to control and suppress gang activity” (Pyrooz & Mitchell, 2015).

Prison gangs are originally formed by inmates as a way of protecting themselves from the other inmates. These gangs have turned out to be violent and thus posing a threat to security. This paper will have a look at the different gangs in prisons, their history, beliefs and missions, and the differences and similarities in these gangs.

Within the chapter “How Gender Structures the prison system” the issue of sexual assault behind prison walls is brought to light. Female prisoners were being sexually violated and humiliated. Davis states throughout this passage that woman experience sexualy assault, before and after they enter the prison system. Personally, after reading this chapter and reading external sources, I feel that women became the targets for sexual abuse by an authority figure. Whomever commits these heinous acts are using their role of authority as a coverup to inflict pain on these individuals. In the prison writings of Kate Richards O’Hare, we see her share a view similar to Davis. O’Hare states, “I found that under the guise of punishment for crime, and in

Male and female prisons differ in some ways, but one thing that is the same is that the inmates suffer from depression, stress, and anxiety each day for the rest of their lives. It is hard to imagine what they face through everyday incarcerated or not. When prisoners are in jail, they have to deal with drama believe it or not. They might form groups determined by race and talk negative things about each other or think one race is better than another. Women prisons do this more often than men prisons. An example from the show Orange is the New Black of prison drama is when a prisoner stole a hand mirror from another prisoner. It is stupid things like that. They have to deal with the crappy food, crappy roommates if they can have one, and not being able to have the freedom. They have strict rules on when they can have visitors and when they can take a phone call. If you committed a crime that is super bad, then you do not get these privileges. When there time is up, they have to worry about where to go, finding a job, family, and more. Some of them come out of there and have no family to help them seek shelter and help them financially. Some just have to live on the streets for a bit until they have some money. It is very difficult to find a stable job with committing a crime on your record. They probably could get hired on at a fast food restaurant or at a factory, but they won’t make much to be

In my research, I read an academic journal, articles and watched two documentaries that support my claim. Which is that women go through many obstacles like mental health, sexual harassment, and inequality in and out of prison. In the Documentary 20/20 “A Nation of Women Behind Bars,” by Diane Sawyer. She visits four prisons and interviews women on the crimes they committed and if they changed in the time they were incarcerated. Nicole Koester is from Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup. She is married

The reality of prison gangs cannot be over look. Many inmates join gangs for safety and protection during their incarceration. “Prison gangs is an organization which operates within prison systems as a self-perpetuating entity, consisting a group of inmates who establishes and organize chain of commands” (Pyrooz & Mitchell). They also are governed by an established prison code. Research has shown that prison gangs have effects on non-gang members and the prison system. I will examine ten articles that explore the effects of prison gangs.

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

According to the American Law and Legal Library, “Due to old data based on faulty proportional analysis, women’s prisons have been systematically underfunded and underrepresented in the publics. A comprehensive analysis of public, women’s prisons in the past three years see a decrease in quality by 12% and an increase by 7% in abuse occurring in public, women’s prisons. Continually, public prisons are not meeting quality standards for women’s prisons and are failing female inmates as a whole.” According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, “Private, women’s prisons have increased in quality in contrast to their public counterparts. Women are treated better by staff in the privates and often have better accessibility to gender-specific treatment. In a recent meta-analysis, private women’s prisons beat public women’s prisons in every dimension of the Prison Quality Index.” It is clear that women receive better care in private prisons, thus warranting a negative

There are many different social factors that go into the amount of prisoners for each group. For men, they appear to be bigger targets than women. Quite possibly because the idea that men are more likely to commit crimes, the first ever prison for women opened in 1927. (Source 1) Even at that the “Prison” was more of a reform school, teaching them to farm the land, teaching them office work, cooking, and how to can vegetables and fruits. The idea that women were too effeminate to commit crimes stuck with our society for a long time.