The United States : A Growing Problem With Women

Benidalys Rivera is one of seven women to give birth while in the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in 2013. In 2013, Benidalys was convicted to serve two and a half years in Chicopee jail for trafficking cocaine. She started to have contractions in her cell, late in the evening. One of the male correctional officers immediately put shackles on her hands, and he left the shackles on her in the hospital labor room. He told Benidalys that he would take the off the shackles on her ankles when she reaches active labor. However, she never entered active labor and the shackles never were taken off. The doctors had to perform a caesarean section (Berg). Benidalys walked around the hospital “she felt embarrassed as nurses and other patients looked on” (Berg) while having only her assigned nurse for comfort. Benidalys took care of her infant for only two days before they had to separate. The infant, named E.J. taken with the biological father’s family, and Benidalys taken back to the institution. Growing up for two and a half years without visiting his mother because the father’s family lived far away from the prison (Berg). The Department of Corrections of each state needs to consider the well-being of incarcerated women and their children in order to prevent the poor upbringing of the children, to prevent repeat offenders, and to create laws protecting

On December 31, 2005, 2,320,359 people were incarcerated in the United States. Of these inmates, 107,518 were female. As of 2004, the most recent date for which statistics are available, it is estimated that there are approximately 2.8 million children of incarcerated parents. Of this number, approximately 320,000 are children of incarcerated mothers. The problem with these estimates is that at best, they are an educated guess. Most states lack uniform methods of recording the demographic information regarding an inmate’s children. Moreover, many inmates may choose not to identify their children for the fear of the possibility

Mother Behind Bars examines a lot of inadequate policies and procedures that these states have in place for federal and state correctional facilities. This report card bring up the issue on prenatal care, shackling, prison nurseries, and family based treatment as an alternative to incarceration however in this paper I will focus on the restraints on these pregnant inmates. New Jersey received a grade of D for shackling policies. Besides New Jersey thirty-seven other states obtain a D/F for their failure to comprehensively limit, or limit at all, the use of restraints on pregnant women transportation, labor, delivery, and postpartum recuperation (National Women’s Law Center, 2010). The use of restraints can compromise the health and safety of the women and the unborn child. Shackling pregnant women is dangerous and inhumane; women prisoners are still routinely shackled during pregnancy and childbirth. The reason these women are shackled is for safety and security, despite the fact that shackling pregnant women is degrading, unnecessary and a violation of human rights some state still condone this practice.

While most expectant mothers are planning for baby showers, shopping for maternity clothes and preparing the baby’s nursery, the incarcerated mother-to-be has to remain in a constant state of alertness and preparedness for situations that can put her and her unborn baby at risk, in an environment that is both intimidating and routinely violent. (Hutchinson et. al., 2008)

The problems at hand that the SIMARRA Act bill is proposing to address, involves child welfare issues, women’s health concerns, and a lack of protection and healthcare needs for these women and their unborn children within the criminal justice system. According to the bill, it has been propositioned to enhance the welfare and public health for incarcerated pregnant women and mothers by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal prison system, by establishing a pilot program of critical-stage, developmental nurseries in Federal prisons for children born to inmates, with risk needs assessments, and risk and recidivism reduction (H.R.5130, 2016). The bill is intended to focus and alleviate the lack thereof adequate care, stress, and hazardous health practices that incarcerated mothers are experiencing with their infant babies, while also monitoring the health of these women. Both the mothers and infants are affected in these situations because the health of the mother has substantial

Children whose parents have been detained and imprisoned confront a variety of difficulties. The behavioral consequences can be severe, absent of decisive intervention, emotional withdrawal, failure in school, delinquency and risk of intergenerational incarceration. However, these children appear to become misplaced and unrecognized by the criminal justice system (Dallaire, Zeman, & Thrash, 2015). Even though a significant number of children are present at the time of their mother’s arrest, law enforcement usually does not ask upon arrest whether a woman offender has children nor do sentencing judiciaries or correctional agencies ever inquire about the matter. Since agencies do not gather information regarding the children, it is vague just how many children are affected when sentencing these women (Dallaire, Zeman, & Thrash, 2015).

The emotional increment in the quantity of ladies in jail in this nation is a consequence of changes in criminal equity arrangement that were expected to 'really begin to tackle wrongdoing' and pay a 'war on medications'. The outcome of these strategies for ladies is from time to time said and even less is caught wind of their effect on youngsters. 76.4% of the ladies in State detainment facilities are moms contrasted with 59.6% of male detainees who are fathers. (As indicated by the Department of Justice). As a rule the offspring of detained men live with their moms some time recently, amid and after their fathers' imprisonment. At the point when moms are sent to jail, their kids are destined to live with a grandparent or other relative (75.2%).

Women are being incarcerated in today’s prisons at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, disparities in policies, women’s programs, and treatment options in the criminal justice system are virtually non-existent which are causing major problems with overcrowding, health issues, and drug abuse problems.

Approximately 80% of incarcerated women are mothers (Mapson, 2013). On average, the adult female offender is between the ages of 25 and 29. Historically, incarcerated women live with their children prior to incarceration and are the sole financial support for those children. When a mother is incarcerated over 80% live with relatives (mostly maternal grandparents) and about 20% live in foster care. Due to mothers being placed far from populated centers, more than half of mothers will not see their children while they are imprisoned. Women rarely see their children due to the child being in foster care or with family members that do not have the financial resources to travel for visits.

Incarceration has been a pending issue amongst western civilization’s history for some time and today continues to raise a wide range of important questions. Incarceration of individuals have become a tremendous tax payer concern along with the incarceration of the drug war, convictions of street gangs, and the rest of the individuals who have broken the law and harmed other innocent individuals. However, the question is always a concern of men incarceration and hardly addressed of women being incarcerated. Not to say that what men can do women can do better, but studies have shown a drastic increase in women becoming incarcerated throughout a range of years. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures research on Children Of Incarcerated Parents by Steve Christian, a study by national survey had reported in August 2008, that during that time, the number of children with a mother in prison increased by 131 percent, from 63,900 to 147,400 (Christian, 2009). Society has always drawn its focus on convicts constantly trying to pin a wrong on an individual’s plate of life, but has never become curious to ask why an individual has become incarcerated and whom it has affected. The drastic increase of women becoming incarcerated have come from numerous of backgrounds in which their choices have led to affect their children as well as their children’s development and in addition affected their own development.

In the past thirty years, the incarceration of women has risen exponentially. Poverty, lack of access to education, abuse, addiction, mental health and parenting issues all impact women’s criminality and health before, during and after they are incarcerated (Hannaher, K., 2007). By 2010 there were nearly 206,000 women currently serving time in the criminal justice system. As the years go by, the numbers are constantly increasing (Women Behind Bars, 2015). The number of pregnant women incarcerated has also been on the rise. Most incarcerated women do not receive proper prenatal care before entering the criminal justice system. Because these women are from mostly poverty neighborhoods, they are more likely to endure domestic violence, poor

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.

There are policies, practices, rules, and routines that are in place to treat pregnant incarcerated women and their medical needs located in the correctional facilities handbook as well as laws that were passed. Thorough out the years the laws were created because of the disorderly conduct happing inside the facility. These women who are pregnant while incarcerated depend on correctional staff for their health care, and correctional staffs are legally compelled to meet those needs. These women have a constitutionally protected right to obtain appropriate medical care for themselves and unborn. In New Jersey, there are policies and laws in place for pregnant inmates. Later in the paper you will read about these policies and laws. Some of these

In order to design criminal justice that matches the specific needs and strengths of women, one should consider the history and demographics of the female criminal and the patterns that are reflecting the life factors and offending. The vast majority of female offenders are drug related or property crimes.

The prison nurseries that do exist today have the main goal of teaching mother’s how to be effective parents outside of the institution. The purpose of prison for women who are parents is no longer just about punishment. Prisons that implement programs like these have started to see the importance of rehabilitation and creating productive members of society. Once an inmate has served their sentence they will be out as a free citizen, and the criminal justice system is partially responsible for their success away from inmate life. At the same time the individual must also be focused on the goal of improving through these arrangements in special programs. Prison nurseries also do not serve as a vacation or a way to avoid serving a sentence for inmates. The prison nurseries come with many responsibilities as well. Many new mothers suffer from depression and stress after giving birth, and instead of just ignoring these issues they have to face them. At this point the mothers no longer have a way to escape what they are experiencing. They still have to cope and learn how to be mothers, without this program they may neglect themselves and their children. Many nurseries also require the inmates to attend school, during this time the mothers are not even allowed to have their children and they are left with nannies who are inmates as well. The mother of the child has no say in leaving her child with