The Treatment Of Female Prisoners

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.

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.

There has been a lack of interest in female convicts as a subject of historical discussion. The history of female convicts has traditionally been incorporated into the framework of male convicts with grave reference to the male convict experience. The convict women who were transported to Australia on ships Elizabeth 5th and Henry Wellesley in 1836 faced extreme difficulty in achieving freedom and reputability. It is the view of many historians that “women were incorporated into a pattern initially designed to accommodate men”. This essay will investigate the origins and characteristics of a sample of 10 female convicts arriving to Sydney in1836. The essay aims to establish an alternative impression of the female convicts that were deemed damned whores, skill-less and prostitutes. In agreement with the 4 of the 5 studied historians, I hold the view that the women were the victims of a “repressive patriarchal society” and the appellation of female convicts as ‘damned whores’ is totally inadequate. I believe they were not members of a professional criminal class; they were humans with basic human needs, doing anything they could to survive.

It has already been established that the prison population for female offenders is growing, but the complexity of the population is changing as well. Special populations make up the group of female offenders, specifically including middle-aged inmates, physically ill inmates, and of course mentally ill inmates (Lewis, 200). The pathology of these women vary, many struggle or previously struggled with substance abuse, psychosis,

Women usually have the same type of story, on the reason they decided to get involved in drugs. Some women have the drugs introduced to them by their family or friends (Mallicoat, 2012). Others began this habit to cope with violence or abuse in their early childhood (Mallicoat, 2012). About half of the women who are incarcerated are in prison for some sort of drug offense; either for selling or for drug use. Introducing prevention programs, life skills training, mental health training, and other basic needs can help reduce the percentage of women going back to their habit and staying away from incarceration (Mcvay et. al, 2004). By just putting women in prison, instead of actually looking into the reason they are using drugs are not helping them and might even increase the risk of them returning to prison or the risk of further criminal activity. Treating drug use as a medical problem, with programs for drug addiction, can help the women from getting incarcerated. Viewing women as victims in scenarios like drug use being a medical problem or prostitution can ultimately help reduce the percentage of incarcerated women.

Maternity care for women in prison has not been respectable. Prison health care is undergoing a modernization program with a requirement that prisoners receive health care to the same standard as those not imprisoned. An article written by Sally Price describes the findings of a research study into the maternity services for women in prison. She provides a background to the project and describes the pregnant prison population and the current services available to them. What is evident from the findings is that the standard of care for women in prison is variable, dependent upon the establishment in which they reside. Two different studies showed results involving the incarcerated pregnant woman. The first study questioned wardens about

Due to the vast amount of women who encounter mental health and substance abuse related problems, it is something that should be considered and looked at more seriously. Mignon (2016) indicated that failing to address these issues of neglecting mental health and substance abuse afflictions of imprisoned women will result in the problems continuing following their release and could have disadvantageous effects on their lives such as joblessness, homelessness, and the potential for loss of custody of children. Priority in health for women in prisons are usually dependent on their sentencing, as in if a woman is given a life sentence, her health needs aren’t necessarily a priority in comparison to women with shorter and lesser sentences. Mignon (2016) discovered that substance abuse is a serious issue for women in correctional facilities, and that even though trauma and addition are intertwined, they are usually treated as separate complications. Mignon (2016) also mentioned that poor health and mental health services should be of special concern when it comes to elderly women in prison.

After reading A Woman Doing Life : Notes from a Prison for Women, I learned a lot more than I thought I knew about the life of women in jails or prisons. Erin George , the main character , gives readers an ethnographic insight on the struggles women face in prison. The hardships women face in prison consist of, and are limited to harsh shakedowns, poor medical treatment, and changes within the prison system that intentionally dehumanizes women inmates. Erin George before prison was a middle class women who seem to live a decent life, she is a mother of 3 and had a great support system within her family. She was happily married until she was convicted of murdering her husband which landed her six-hundred-three years in prison.

(Ferst & Erickson-Owens, 2008) Many of these women were lacking education, had been unemployed or underemployed and were lacking adequate health insurance prior to being incarcerated. (Siefert & Pimlott, 2001) In general, most women enter the prison system with a plethora of physical and emotional obstacles; in addition, the health concerns of pregnancy and childbirth increase the challenges presented to institution medical staff to provide the necessary medical and emotional support that this woman will need. The prison health care system has improved considerably over recent years, especially in the area of women’s health and mental health services, often times due to intervention by health, women and civil rights advocacy groups. (Birth, 2000)

In the past 20 years, women inmates have been one of the fastest growing prison populations in the United States. Women inmates represent a myriad of voices that speak to poverty-stricken lives, histories of abuse, separations of mother and child, struggles with substance abuse, health issues, and economic hardships. Women’s prisons have increasingly become a source of intrigue and controversy, particularly through the broadcasting of a number of television documentaries, such as Orange Is the New Black. This explores all the issues and concerns regarding female inmates. Many times women in prison are overlooked, as the prison problems that receive media attention occur primarily at male institutions.

Women 's prisons in general are much more different and complicated than a men 's prison. When entering a women 's prison, the first thing that you need to know is it has changed significantly over the years. Women first began to make an appearance in prisons in the earlier years, but were not heavily charged as comparison to men. In the earlier years of the 1870’s the United States began placing women in correctional facilities separate from men. It was on July 27, 1873 when the first female prison opened. As well as the men prisons, women faced bad conditions and treatments where they suffered tremendously. Some of the things they experienced were overcrowding, cruel punishments and prohibition to recreation or interaction time. (Timetoast)

It was found that 3% of women in federal prisons, 3% of women in state prisons and 5% of women in local jails have been pregnant when they first entered the facility (Law, V., Pregnant and behind bars: how the US prison system abuses mothers-to-be, 2015). The number of pregnant women going into custody is rising as the years continue. That means that the care of these women who are

Even though mothers in prison represent only 8.1% of all incarcerated parents, the actual numbers are shocking at 65,600 by 2007 mid-year (Glaze and Maruschak, 2010). This number has doubled (122%) during the previous 16 years and the number of children affected have increased by 131% to 147,400. In addition, the rate of increase in incarcerated mothers was twice that of incarcerated fathers during the same period. Race is also a significant factor, with children of African American and Hispanic parents being 8.9 and 3 times, respectively, more likely to have an incarcerated parent than White children (The Sentencing Project, 2007). This essay will examine prison policies surrounding incarcerated women in U.S. prisons, including those in the state of Mississippi.

Prisons were historically a male focused institution; correctional facilities often fail to address the needs of incarcerated women. The importance of a women’s prison institution is the way the mothering system needs to be done. Of the women in the correctional system, a majority of them are between the ages of 24 and 35(Staretschi & Vaughn, 2010). There are mothers in prison who have children with a family member, friend, or foster care. Other

Furthermore, female inmates are another challenge for correctional administrators. For example, an important and alarming issue such as overwhelming pregnancy and abortion related health care factors can become expensive. These inmates need special clear, intensive monitoring and observation. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “200,000 women are living behind prison or jail walls and thousands of these women are pregnant and dependent on the correctional administrators for health care.” (para. 1). Even though correctional administrators are legally obligated to meet their needs, there are guidelines that they must follow. These guidelines are put in place to further assist correctional administrators so that they are not violating the rights and well-being of female inmates who are already pregnant or considering on having a child while incarcerated.