Penal Studies for Professional Practice Essay example

There have been many changes in the treatment of offenders by the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, particularly the treatment of female offenders. The handling of women within the criminal justice system has been closely tied to their social characteristics, and to what might be described as their ‘social construction’. On the other hand, women who compromise more than half of the world’s population, account for only 15% of criminal activity and as a consequence, relatively little attention has been given to them. This essay will explore how this has changed from a historical point of view to modern times, with exploration from cross-culture comparisons and an overview of the treatments of females in prisons.

The study of recidivism amongst women in prison is important because most research focuses on the male population. The reasons for the “revolving door” phenomenon are different for women; therefore, their treatment should be more gender focused and specific to their needs. Judging by the rates at which women recidivate, you could assume that somewhere along the way the system has failed them. What role does drug use, motherhood, mental health, physical, sexual, and mental abuse play in the recidivism of female inmates?

When a nation leads the world in the population incarcerated, women incarcerated and recidivism rate a question of what policies are causing these high statistics. Commonalities such as lack of supportive programing, conditions and over sentencing seem to appear in all these statistics. Although the controversial American prison system is often overlooked it is a grave social issue that no longer focuses on the rehabilitation of inmates.

Resettlement has been an important element in prison life throughout England and Wales for many years. It is when “prisoners and their families receive assistance and support from the prison and probation services and voluntary agencies to help them prepare for life after prison” (Justice, 2002). The objective is to hopefully lead prisoners towards recidivism, which will hopefully return ex-offenders to normal life, employment and housing. Criminological and social research done by Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) identified the following factors to be what influenced reoffending. These are; education, employment, drug and alcohol misuse, mental and physical health, housing, financial support, debt and family networks. The aim of this essay is to discuss the impact that resettlement has in imprisonment today by looking at the factors within prison life and also looking at the effects that resettlement has on the prisoners.

This research paper is focused on released convicts and the struggles they face to become active, progressive members of society. Sadly, these released offenders regularly face discrimination in their job searches, in attempts to secure housing for themselves and their families, and to be accepted by their communities. Without the right support structures in place upon their release, these former prisoners may very well fall back into lives of crime. Without a suitable place to stay, these released offenders may become recidivists, falling back into their familiar roles as law breakers, if only to provide the basic necessities for themselves and their

This is particularly accentuated whilst studying women. In November 2001 a third men's jail had to be converted to take female prisoners in response to a sizeable fluctuation in the female prison population. A record of 4,045 women are housed in British prisons. In 2001-2002 the female prison population increased by 28%. It is conclusive that women are incarcerated, predominantly for drug-related offences and violence.

Generally when we think and hear about prison we envision men; this is natural because they make up the majority of inmate population. But men are not the only ones who commit crimes and are locked up for it. There is a rising number of incarcerated female as well a growing number of

The number of women in prison has increased dramatically in the last few decades, yet women’s gendered experiences in the criminal justice system have been largely overlooked. Because of mandatory terms enacted since the 1970s, the U.S. prison system has experienced expansive population growth, increasing nearly five-fold (Schlesinger 2010). People who, in the past, would have been given probation or suspended sentences are now being incarcerated. These new policies are effecting women disproportionately. “Between 1980 and 2014, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 700%, more than double the rate of men (The Sentencing Project 2015)”. Nearly a quarter of these women are mentally ill and more than half haven’t finished high school (Kerness 2010). The majority of the increase in these new prison admissions are from non-violent drug related charges (Schlesinger 2010). Because women are generally the primary caretakers of the family, the increasing incarceration rates among women has widespread effects.

Doherty, Sherri, Pamela Forrester, Amanda Brazil, Flora I. Matheson. 2014. “Finding Their Way: Conditions for Successful Reintegration Among Women Offenders”. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 57(7): 562-586. Accessed September 21, 2015. doi: 10.1080/10509674.2014.944740

After looking at a variety of different issues surrounding criminalized women I would like to focus on barriers that women face when leaving the confines of jail. Specifically, looking at the challenges they face by looking at community re-integration. I then will to look at some ways media covering marginalized women are progressing stigmas that only serve to hurt women. Finally I will look at the systematic ways in which current neo-liberal policies of governance continually repress the most marginalized of women. Currently there are far too many marginalized women who are getting lost in the system of reintegration; I hope to highlight current struggles that criminalized women deal with and address those issues on the government’s current

Women in the prison face many problems, some resulting from their lives prior to imprisonment, and others resulting from their imprisonment itself. Women in prison have experienced victimization, unstable family life, school and work failure, and substance abuse and mental health problems. Social factors that marginalize their participation in mainstream society and contribute to the rising number

Practitioners, academics, criminologists, and case workers all agree that with the right reentry policies and programs in place, a convicted offender has a greater chance at being successfully reintegrated into society. Reentry has become an important part of prisoner release because it is effective for non-recidivism and for the safety of the community. Ideally, a risk assessment is done around an offenders sentencing so that there is more information available at release time which helps to decide on the best reentry model program before the release date. Once the parole board votes for release, the first needs to be addressed is housing, employment and health issues along with other concerns. New ideas continue to be considered so that every offender has an opportunity to succeed.

n environment constructed to diminish the idea of self-worth and freedom, women attempt to recreate a better version of themselves while confronting the disparities between men and women in the criminal justice system. Unless sentenced for life, inmates will eventually be released from the place holding them in captivity for their crimes. Prison, however, should not just be a place that contains convicts, but it should be a place that teaches the rules of a civilized person and it should do so fairly. It may seem unjust to feel the need to bring such uniformity to a group of people, but, as far as anyone knows, once released, being a prisoner was just a label and they need to be able to adapt to a normal life. Without simple rights, such as equality in prison, incarcerated women will never be able to learn what is necessary to sustain life outside of bars based on their unique needs. If they cannot learn or adapt, prison is just a punishment. When it comes to the concept of gender equality, it is commonly applauded. However, these women should hold their applause and reconsider the logic that equal may not always mean fair.

The authors of this study research whether or not being a women effects prison sentencing. They also delve deeper and see if gender effects minor, or serious crime more. They find for minor crimes women are less likely to receive prison time, then their male counterparts. In more serious crime they receive prison time on the same level as their male counterparts. However, women do receive a shorter amount of prison time, or less serious sentence.

Sykes (1958) described the pains of imprisonment for men as the deprivations of liberty, goods and services, heterosexual relationships, autonomy, and security. All these deprivations apply equally to female prisoners, and some may be more severe for women. Separation from one's family is an obvious example of this. Women may also suffer from receiving fewer leisure, work and educational opportunities and closer surveillance than men. Many have noted the corrections experience is significantly different for women than for men, because men and women are treated differently by the courts and corrections systems (Chesney-Lind & Pollock, 1995). It has been suggested that this differential treatment has to do with the nature of crimes committed by women and the role of many women as mothers. Unfortunately, our understanding of the role that sex and gender play in shaping prisoner culture and experience has been constrained by a lack of recent research. Although female offenders became the subjects of extensive research in the 1960s, studies examining their adjustment to imprisonment today have received minimal attention. Research continues to focus primarily on the effects of incarceration on male prisoners, suggesting that the female inmate remains a forgotten offender (MacKenzie, Robinson & Campbell, 1989; 1995). Those studies that have focused on the female inmate, however, have shown that the impact of imprisonment is more severe on women than on men, especially if they have family responsibilities (Durham 1994). Despite the growing number of long-term offenders in the United States, studies continue to focus primarily on the male long-term offender, with little emphasis being placed on females. Since few