The rising incarceration of women and the need for feminist corrections

Women in Prison

Major Legal Issues Concerning Female Inmates

Problems in corrections:

Dealing with the unique needs of women in the prison system

The number of female prison inmates in America and internationally is growing. Although men still outnumber women in the prison population, the rates of female incarceration, once considered relatively nominal, have skyrocketed. "In the U.S., where the prison and jail population reached two million in the year 2000, women's incarceration is also spiralling upwards at a greater pace than that of men. While the number of men in U.S. prisons and jails doubled between 1985 and 1995, women's imprisonment during the same period tripled" (Sudbury 2002). These escalating rates are surprising, given that women are far more likely to be the victims rather than the perpetrators of violent crimes. "While their relative proportions are small, the growing numbers of women being sent to prison is disproportionate to their involvement in serious crime. Women imprisoned in state and federal correctional institutions throughout the United States totaled 94,336 at mid-year 2001, representing 6.6% of the total prisoner population" (Zaitzow 2004).

The 'war on drugs' and laws such as 'three strikes and you are out' have increased incarceration rates for several categories of prisoners, such as substance abusers, and women often figure prominently in such cases. "Policies such as mandatory minimums, truth-in-sentencing and three strikes that cause more people to serve prison sentences, for longer terms, and leads to spiralling prison populations" (Sudbury 2004). This paper will argue that there has been an insufficiently swift paradigm swift within the corrections community to deal with the unique challenges of female prisoners, which include sexual victimization and economic dependence on male, criminal figures. A new, feminist paradigm is necessary that takes into consideration the social injustices perpetuated by patriarchal institutions is required for the justice system to adapt to the new reality, to fully address women's unique psychological and sociological needs, and to reduce incarceration rates and recidivism.

Statistics on women in prisons

According to the Bureau of Justice: "based on the self-reports of victims of violence, women account for about 14% of violent offenders…The rate of male violent offending translated into about 1 violent offender for every 9 males age 10 or older in the general population; the rate of female violent offending was equal to about 1 violent offender for every 56 females age 10 or older (Greenfield & Snell 2000:1-2). About 1 out of every 109 adult women in the U.S. population is involved in the prison system as an inmate. However, women are rarely the instigators of violent crimes alone. "About 8% of violent female offenders committed their offense together with at least one male offender; by contrast, about 1% of male violent offenders committed the offense in the company of a female offender" (Greenfield & Snell 2000:2). And although the rate of women who commit murder and other violent crimes has gone down since 1980, the rates of female incarceration have been increasing, particularly in the areas of drug-related crimes. "Violence and drug trafficking…account for 17% of women on probation, 24% of those sentenced to local jails, 46% of those incarcerated in State prisons, and 65% of those confined in Federal prisons" (Greenfield & Snell 2000:7). In addition to these demographic differences between women and men are other psychological differences that must be taken into account when prescribing a course of rehabilitative treatment for a female inmate. Treating populations 'the same' with profoundly different needs can be innately discriminatory.

Mental illness amongst women in prison

Mental illness is rife amongst both incarcerated men and women. Although the legal system has a specific definition of what it means to be legally 'insane,' merely because someone has been convicted of a crime does not mean that he or she is sane according to a DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) definition of sanity. For example, one recent study by Blitz (et al. 2005) of recently-released New Jersey special needs prison inmates found that 68% had more than one Axis I mental disorder, a personality disorder, an addiction problem or multiple illnesses. While this propensity was true both of women and men in the study population, men were more likely to exhibit antisocial behavior and addiction problems. In contrast, "women are more likely to have active disorders of somatization, depression, generalized anxiety, panic, and phobia" (Blitz et al. 2005). This suggests that programs specifically designed to help women reintegrate into society must offer psychological counseling with a different emphasis than programs designed for men. Social programs that take a less punitive attitude towards mental illness may be more beneficial for women given that individuals with mood-related complaints often complain of low self-esteem and turn their angry feelings against themselves and others.

That women tend to exhibit high rates of depression and a strong tendency to act violently against the self, not just society, than do men is supported by other research in this area, nationally and internationally. There is an extremely high rate of past suicide attempts among incarcerated females. In another study of 107 female inmates, 38.1% had attempted suicide in the past, reported symptoms of depression and other mood disorders or showed symptoms of borderline personality disorder (Chapman et al. 2005).

The connection between mental illness and women committing crimes also seems to be far stronger than in males: emotional distress rather than social reinforcement for aggression may be at the root of much of female criminal behavior. For example, women made up a much larger percentage of 'special needs' inmates. Of the New Jersey prisons study, 16% of males were classified as special needs compared with 37% of females (Blitz et al. 2005). The sources of these higher rates of mental illness may be both biological and sociological. A study of HIV-infected prisoners found that of women inmates "96% had neurological examination abnormalities involving either the central or peripheral nervous system, or both, with associated neurological histories predating their current crime conviction, regardless of current HIV serological status" (Brewer-Smyth et al. 2007). Blows to the head were one of the most commonly-attributed sources of this status, which could result from childhood abuse and victimization or domestic violence victimization later in life. Head traumas are associated with mental illness and violent and aggressive behaviors in both genders.

Perhaps most tellingly, women inmates are more likely to have been the victims of sexual assault. In California, 80% of incarcerated women were found to be the victims of sexual assault. As well as the threat of sexual violence from other prisoners, "women's experiences of sexual harassment and abuse, lack of privacy, and retaliation during incarceration may further increase women's risk for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and decreased overall well-being before release from prison" (Dirks 2004). There is an implied possible causal role between the aftereffects of being sexually assaulted and the sense of a lack of self-worth that leads to criminal behavior. Of course, it could be argued that this is correlation rather than causation: poor, nonwhite women are more likely to be convicted of crimes and the instability of their lives, housing situations, and precarious economic lives might lead them into situations where sexual assaults are more likely to take place. Still, it is a possible hypothesis that untreated sexual assault can cause the negative thinking and behavior patterns to persist which disempower women and discourage them from availing themselves of potential sources of rehabilitation while in prison.

Women have traditionally been seen as the 'less violent' gender and their relatively small numbers in the prison population has tended to generate social programs that emphasize aggression containment in men and reducing social factors that support such aggression such as anti-gang activities. But these programs are often less relevant to women's lives. For example, a survey of 4,204 respondents (3,986 males and 218 females) females found that a mental disorder was reported by 19.8% of male and 46.1% of female participants, "with 6.6% of males and 19.4% of females reporting a serious mental disorder." (Wolff et al. 2011:1485). While "the criminal thinking patterns of male and female inmates who reported mental disorders were consistent with those of inmates who reported no mental disorders…Inmates reporting mental disorders scored significantly higher on measures of aggression and hopelessness" (Wolff et al. 2011:1485). Untreated mental disorders may be more likely to leave the causes of female-instigated crime untreated as well because of the higher rates of women in need of such psychological counseling.

The treatment of women in prison often exacerbates this victim psychology and contributes to a sense that the woman's body and therefore the woman's life are worthless. Said one woman: "We were in orange jump suits, with no underwear. For some girls, it was that time of the month. One girl had to keep a pad on with a jump suit with no panties on. That's just the way it is. And they don't care" (Zaitzow 2004). PTSD, a common response of a sexual abuse survivor may be aggravated by the physical vulnerability enforced by prison conditions. Women are also in a total state of dependency upon their female guards for all of their needs, which can again exacerbate the feelings of victimhood.

A lack of program support

Although most prisons afford vocational training and psychological support for women to enter into the job market as productive citizens, few women prisoners take advantage of such opportunities. The reason, one study suggests, may be inadequate program design, given that most approaches to training focus on males and are the program paradigm is merely transferred to female prisons with the same approach. The employment rate of formerly incarcerated women is similar to the level of their pre-incarceration period, suggesting a failure of appropriate vocational training and social support for women inmates (Lalonde & Cho 2005). Also, as the population of incarcerated women has grown, it has become more and more difficult for prisons to address women's unique vocational needs because of budget cuts. Some criminologists have suggested that programs do not sufficiently prepare uneducated women for careers with bright promotional possibilities like those of men, given that traditional, well-paid manual labor has been viewed as a male sphere although women could benefit from learning about welding, electrical work, or even technical skills.

The difficulties women face in prison are often forgotten because women's prisons are often more attractive than all-male prisons in a superficial fashion. However, this should not be viewed as prejudice in favor of female prisoners. "Despite the less-threatening appearance of women's prisons, the conditions for women prisoners are usually worse than those for male prisoners. For example, women prisoners have more restricted access to legal libraries, medical and dental care, and vocational and educational opportunities. What few possessions they have are often confiscated or destroyed and they are subject to arbitrary body searches at any time" (Zaitzow 2004). Women do have an advantage in the sense that they tend to serve less time than their male counterparts for equivalent offenses. Of "the about 84,000 women who "were confined in prisons in 1998, in 1996 the average sentence and time served for women were shorter than for males with equivalent offenses" (Greenfield & Snell 2000:7). But this reduces pressure upon the system to create women-specific programs to enhance their job marketability after release and can lead to recidivism.

Substance abuse

Substance abuse is a significant problem in the lives of many women prisoners. There is a strong correlation between drug abuse and incarceration amongst female convicts. A study found that of 54 female inmates who identified themselves as ex-addicts, the "majority began using drugs prior to their involvement in crime and most were convicted of drug-related crimes" (Chen 2009). Drug use is higher than alcohol use overall in women than in male prisoners: "Women offenders in State prisons reported higher usage and 40% of women inmates compared to 32% of male inmates had been under the influence of drugs when the crime occurred. By contrast, every measure of alcohol use was higher for male inmates than for female inmates" (Greenfield & Snell 2000:8).

Psychology of criminality

In contrast to the retributive philosophy of justice which dominated the 19th century, the need for understanding the origins of criminality -- both psychological and sociological -- have come to the forefront of the discipline in the 20th century. Child-rearing is a common issue of debate amongst criminologists. A study of one hundred twenty-eight inmates and 337 non-inmates found that authoritarian (strict, discipline-oriented) and permissive (hands-off and noninvolved) parenting were far more characteristic of the upbringings of inmates and non-inmates, versus the loving, firm discipline of a fair but authoritative household.

However, this association could be attributed to correlation as well as causation. It could be that persons from socioeconomically advantaged groups tend to use authoritative methods, versus other methods of child-rearing or that the stressors or poverty (needing to work long hours, food scarcity, unstable living conditions) create such patterns of ineffective parenting, and that 'bad parenting' itself is not the cause, but financial scarcity and an unequal distribution of income in society. "Research also shows that women in prison have experienced unusually high rates of extremely abusive 'discipline' from parents, involvement in drugs, and prostitution, whether they were imprisoned for these crimes or not" (Zaitzow 2004). Personal and social disadvantages, exacerbated by drug abuse are often targeted as the primary motivators for women to engage in criminal activity, much more so than innate aggression or even monetary rewards.

Feminist criminologists have called the system of control in women's prisons a kind of 'pastel fascism' which replicates such systems of oppressive parental control in the name of punishment and reform. "Control-oriented rules and regulations, poor diet, neglectful health care, degradation, lack of vocational training and recreational facilities, exploitation, abuse, and unsanitary conditions typify the conditions in many prisons and jails that house women" (Zaitzow 2004). The very notion of the female prisoner confounds conventional notions of femininity. "Much of the treatment and control of women in prison is premised upon the individualization of the women's problems. The women are typically characterized as having in some way 'failed' in their adult responsibilities" (Zaitzow 2004).

Rehabilitation of female prisoners is often seen as synonymous with re-feminization, including finding a male breadwinner to take care of the woman and her children. Mothers are highly idealized within the culture yet "women under supervision by justice system agencies were mothers of an estimated 1.3 million minor children" (Greenfield & Snell 2000:1). Women may be threatened with having their children taken away or being unable to see their children if they are not compliant: women who give birth in prison tend to have their children removed from them after a year or so (depending on the country and the state) so the child is not punished along with the incarcerated mother (Sudbury 2004).

Women's imprisonment may be viewed as making them 'unfit' even though desperation to support their children may have driven them to illicit activity in the first place such as the case of women who turn to prostitution or Barbara Parsons who was "molested by her grandfather when she was 4, Parsons shot and killed her abusive husband when he revealed that he had molested her granddaughter" and "convicted of manslaughter due to emotional duress" (Lamb 2008). Parsons' psychological distress as a result of her victimization clearly played a role in her actions yet despite her questionable status as a threat to society, she was still given a harsh punishment.

It is often is vulnerability to male advances that is often at the core of female incarceration, given the degree to which women are often forced into crime through the pressures of men who they feel they 'need' to survive, rightly or wrongly. Once again, there is evidence that women are judged more harshly by the system than males: "They are written up for twice as many infractions as men, but usually the infractions are less serious than those committed in men's prisons" (Zaitzow 2004). Although women's prisons often have slightly more amenities than male prisons, women are held to a higher standard of behavior -- simply because they are women and should 'know better.'

Female psychology

It has often been observed that women, in contrast to men, tend to turn their anger against themselves rather than outward at society. This difference between the genders may be due to biology, socialization, or a mixture of different factors. Female prisoners conflate social stereotypes of femininity, given their demonstrated propensity to commit asocial acts in defiance of what it means to be a 'good girl.' Yet, consistent with the female gender as a whole, women prisoners also have notably higher rates of self-directed violence, including suicide, regardless of their crimes. "Existing studies have identified the presence of psychopathology and childhood abuse as important risk factors for suicidal behavior among female inmates. Female inmates demonstrate high rates of mood disorders and substance use disorders (Jordan, Schlenger, Fairbank, & Caddell, 1996), as well as antisocial and borderline personality disorders, all of which are associated with heightened suicide risk (Bostwick & Pankratz, 2000; Holley et al., 1995; Hufford, 2001). Additionally, female inmates report high rates of childhood abuse" (Chapman 2005). Even women who are victimizers, therefore, have often found themselves previously in the role of victim. Unemployment and low socio-economic status increase the likelihood of suicide and are also associated with higher rates of criminal behavior. (Ironically, women are even more likely to be the victims in crimes perpetuated by women: Three out of four victims of violent female offenders were women" (Greenfield & Snell 2000:1).

While correlation does not always imply causality, the linking of such factors calls for a holistic treatment of mental disorders of inmates. Poor coping skills and limited cognitive resources to deal with stress are linked both with violence and suicidal behavior. Programs which offer females alternative methods of dealing with their problems may be fruitful in helping women to pursue more positive life courses. Cognitive or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy has shown to be fruitful in altering existing cognitive strategies and minimizing hopelessness. For example, instead of being allowed to make broad, unsubstantiated statements 'I am worthless,' the patient is asked to define what she means by worthless, to find aspects of worth in her life, and to show her the irrationality of thought patterns she has taken for granted for many years. CBT and DBT has also been one of the most useful therapies to use in treating patients with substance abuse problems. Thoughts such as 'I need this drug to survive' or 'I am already addicted, so there is no point in quitting' are addressed by applying rational analysis to the woman's thoughts. These therapies are also extremely goal-directed which is useful for a prison setting, in which extended personalized therapy in the psychodynamic mode may not be feasible.

CBT and DBT have also been found to be extremely valuable in treating Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), a personality disorder which women prisoners are far more likely to exhibit than even antisocial personality disorder (which is far more common in males). "DBT theory suggests that some people's arousal levels in certain situations can increase far more quickly than the average person's. This leads a person to attain a much higher level of emotional stimulation than normal, and it may take a significant amount of time to return to normal emotional arousal levels" (Grohol 2010). Borderline patients are at a high risk of engaging in self-harming practices as well as tend to have very unstable personal relationships in a manner that can make conventional therapy difficult: they may alternate between obsessing about and despising certain people and can be very emotionally demanding for both positive and negative attention.

DBT specifically often has a group therapy-based component, which can be useful to treat women who are incarcerated, helping them to get along better with one another. "In these group sessions, people learn skills from one of four different modules: interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance/reality acceptance skills, emotion regulation, and mindfulness skills. A group setting is an ideal place to learn and practice these skills, because it offers a safe and supportive environment" (Grohol 2010). For women who may have problems with their socialization skills yet who can benefit from positive social feedback, group settings can add a dimension to their therapy and recovery not present in other approaches.

However, the efficacy of CBT and DBT has been difficult to establish in an evidence-based fashion. In one study of a program for female inmates: "33% of the women who received [CBT] Seeking Safety treatment returned to prison 3 months post-release and that women in the treatment group were more likely than members of the control group to return to prison (50% versus 10%)" (Reentry programs for women inmates, 2005, Reentry programs for women inmates). Women with BPD and substance abuse problems are often more intractable to treat than female inmates with other complaints, thus using the general population as a control group may not be particularly effective. Given the multitude of other factors that can impact efficacy rates according to evidence-based standards of program evaluation, funding for these programs can be challenging to solicit.

Rethinking the paradigm of female incarceration

In addition to creating more effectively-structured programs, there has also been a need to fundamentally reconfigure the entire paradigm of how women's prisons are viewed, particularly in light of the high rates of sexual victimization within the prisons. "For women with previous histories of abuse, prison life is apt to simulate the abuse dynamics already established in these women's lives, thus perpetuating women's further re-victimization and re-traumatization while serving time. Women's experiences of re-victimization and re-traumatization need to be addressed by prison staff, policy, procedure, and programming. A feminist framework may offer a lens by which to view these experiences and offer insight for change" (Dirks 2004). Rather than rehabilitating women, quite often the prison environment merely simulates another environment of command and control that parallels the abuse the woman suffered. The fact that most women in prison were sexually victimized while still young only compounds the issue, as her status as a victim has become internalized into the woman's sense of well-being in a manner which can be very difficult to eradicate.

Prison itself according to many feminist scholars, is merely another form of patriarchal command and control. Given that various studies of women in prison have estimated that anywhere from 70-90% of women have been the victims of violent sexual assault as children or adolescents, to treat women prisoners as perpetrators alone does not take into consideration a very important component of why their psychology may have been damaged in the first place (Dirks 2004). Also the way that certain crimes are treated, such as prostitution and substance abuse, may result in women been punished more often and harshly.

For example, as well as substance abuse, the crime of prostitution is also very common amongst female prisoners -- over half the sampling size of one study of female prison inmates according to Dirks (2004). Prostitutes more often face prosecution than male patrons. Prostitution is a way that socio-economically disadvantaged women without an education may try to support themselves and their children or can also be the result of coercion from males (began when the woman is still underage). But women's behaviors are treated purely as criminal rather than as psychological manifestations of oppression and abuse and the demand side of prostitution is also not addressed, given that it is generated by males.

Discrimination and the justice system

Numerous studies have noted the discrepancy between the representation of certain historically-discriminated-against groups in the population and their representation in the justice system. "Black women are commonly victims of childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment and are overrepresented in 'severe" categories of childhood sexual abuse" (Dirks 2004). In particular, socio-economically disadvantaged African-American women are more likely to be assaulted, are less likely to report their victimization, and to be the victimization of repeated assaults than whites (Dirks 2004). Other women of color may similarly experience both discrimination as a member of a marginalized group and socio-economic deprivation, which, when combined with other forms of abuse can create a mentality that makes the individual vulnerable to acting out in a criminal fashion. "Early childhood boundary violations can often shape women's later experiences in life in creating a weak sense of self, feelings of guilt or shame, and deprivation, thus shaping women's further alienation and vulnerability" (Dirks 2004).

The war on drugs has had a particularly seismic impact upon increasing the population of African-American and Latino women in the prison system. Mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug crimes, even for individuals only peripherally involved through husbands and boyfriends are one of the reasons for the escalating numbers of women behind bars. "Since the only way a lesser sentence can be given is in cases where the defendant provides 'substantial assistance' in the prosecution of another person, women, who tend to be in subordinate positions within drug syndicates and thus have little access to information are usually unable to make such an agreement" (Sudbury 2002).

The power dynamic of women in the drug trade is almost invariably that of a subordinate to a more powerful male. Female lower-level involvement and influence and increases their likelihood of victimization but may also result in a greater likelihood of serving a mandatory sentence because of their lack of meaningful knowledge which they can barter with prosecutors: "Women's subordinate role in heterosexual relationships and their role as the primary and often sole carers of children combine to devalue their labour in the drug trade. The low value of women's labour in the drug trade is demonstrated by the women I interviewed who reported being 'set up' as decoys so that their arrest would distract customs officials from a larger shipment coming through" (Sudbury 2002).

Nonwhite women of low socioeconomic status are once again disadvantaged by the penalization of cheaper crack cocaine (more often used by nonwhites) more than expensive but pharmaceutically similar powder cocaine has similarly driven up incarceration rates: the mandatory minimum sentence for crack cocaine is one hundred times harsher for crack than for powder cocaine" both for users and dealers (Sudbury 2002).

The invasive intrusion upon privacy in the prison environment, including physical intrusion, can trigger many survivors' PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) or exacerbate it. Thus, rather than rehabilitating women, prison may merely aggravate pre-existing psychological conditions, ironically the same conditions which may have had a psychological role in the perpetuation of the crimes of the women prisoners in the first place. Violence, substance abuse, prostitution, battered woman syndrome, and other crimes may be linked to untreated sexual assault as can racial and sexual discrimination.

Rather than acknowledge this, the prison system "retriggers abuses with grossly unequal power dynamics, invasive searches, restraints, reading of mail, and a lack of privacy" (Dirks 2004). Sexual assault is also a very real possibility in prison: in one study "7.7% of the women reported being pressured or forced to have sexual contact against their will while incarcerated," either by male prison guards or by other female prisoners (Dirks 2004). It has been suggested that having outside counselors come in to deal with women prisoner's past and current traumas is beneficial particularly in light of sexual abuse: "Although training correctional officers to treat women in prison with esteem, empathy, and compassion could result positively…it is difficult to envision the development of meaningful, respectful, and supportive relationships when guards continue to perform strip searches, open women's mail, monitor their relations with others within and outside of the institution, and at times punish the prisoners" (Dirks 2004). There should also be anonymous venues within the prison in which women can report abuse without fear of repercussions. Given the power dynamic between women and their guards, unless women are assured that such reportage is acceptable, there will inevitably be a dearth of input.

A feminist framework stresses the need for female empowerment to lead a productive life while the mentality of the retributive elements of the prison system emphasizes the need to break the prisoner 'down.' These paradigms are inevitably in conflict and feminist criminologists suggest they are ultimately ineffective in dealing with crimes amongst women. Society as a whole must question how it views women and incarceration to enact meaningful changes. "If we understand that women's criminality is inextricably linked to their victimization and traumatization, we also need to then examine the structural changes that must occur to disrupt the current cycles of victimization in the lives of girls and women. Some individuals may question how as a society we could afford such a structural disruption, but the question still remains, how can we afford not to make these critical changes?" (Dirks 2004).

A final note regarding discrimination is the presence of lesbians within the prison environment. Although not all women are heterosexual, there is often a heterosexual presumption in the manner in which women are treated (with lesbianism being viewed as an abnormality rather than as meaningful sexual difference). Unless this issue is addressed, the recovery and rehabilitation of women who are not heterosexual may face additional obstacles because of their membership in this historically discriminated-against group (Dirks 2004).

Economic factors

The poor have always been disproportionately represented in the nation's prisons and statistically speaking, the divide between the rich and poor has grown in the past thirty years. Women with children are more affected by downturns in the economy and experts speak of the 'globalization of poverty' as a factor the permanent disenfranchisement of entire classes of women: "The result is the disenfranchisement of working class and black communities and black women in particular as the state sheds its social welfare responsibilities. In Britain, as in the U.S. And Canada, this has entailed a dramatic reform of welfare, and the targeting of single mothers in particular as a drain on the public purse. It is this impoverishment that acts as the motor to women's involvement within the retail end of the drug trade and their subsequent targeting by the criminal justice systems of these countries. Working class women, and in particular women of colour therefore bear the brunt of both the punitive and economic regimes of neo-liberal globalization" (Sudbury 2002).

Measurable benefits of some programs

However, as one study of a female Illinois prison population revealed, work programs can have material benefits for employees, or at least guard against falling wages after women are released from prison. "Once they exit from prison, quarterly employment rates are near their highest pre-prison levels before rising to over 30%. This translates into about a 5-percentage point impact on employment in the immediate post-prison period. Afterwards, employment rates decline somewhat, but even after 20 quarters they remain a couple of percentage points above their pre-prison levels" (Lalonde & Cho 2008: 247).

Recently, the author Wally Lamb chronicled his efforts conducting a writing workshop for inmates at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution, Connecticut's high-security prison for women prisoners. The women were encouraged to write about their personal stories as a way of dealing with past traumas, which often included past sexual abuse. "Addicts are particularly vulnerable to cold feet when truth telling begins to overpower manipulation and self-deception. Yet if the writer reflects honestly and un-self-pityingly on the damage she has both endured and caused -- and if she takes the critical next step of sharing her words with the group and receiving feedback -- she will begin to defy the gravity of her painful past" (Lamb 2008:1). Lamb's effort encourages both efforts in literacy which can foster better job skills as well as promotes learning. It combines soul-searching and rehabilitative counseling with meaningful job skills like literacy, writing, and reading. "An inmate may, for example, begin to explore the connection between the incest she endured as a young girl and her subsequent drug addiction. She may discover a link between her embezzlement conviction and her lifelong inability to please an emotionally distant mother. Along with that growing clarity, she will confront anger, shame, grief, and the need to stop making excuses and take responsibility for her actions" (Lamb 2008:1). By sharing their work with others, inmates also improve critical listening and communication skills.

The Delaware Criminal Justice Council has likewise examined the integration of the specific needs of women into its therapeutic community model programs, designed to deal with women's sexual victimization. Also, "the success of women in therapeutic community programs is increased when the atmosphere is less confrontational and when female counselors are present" (Reentry programs for women inmates, 2005, Reentry programs for women inmates). Both the women's only KEY program at Baylor Women's Correctional Institute and the co-ed program CREST, a work release program at Sussex Correctional Institute had lower rates of recidivism for female participants but overall women preferred the female-oriented program and reported greater satisfaction with its approach (Reentry programs for women inmates, 2005, Reentry programs for women inmates). "Many women, citing histories of family violence, did not like the shouting and verbal sparring that often resulted from these parts of the programs" (Reentry programs for women inmates, 2005, Reentry programs for women inmates).

Designing an effective comparison of different approaches can be challenging: often, some form of intervention is better than no intervention at all, but the question arises if it is the right or the wrong type of intervention. A comparison of a less and more confrontational program suggests that a structure uniquely tailored to female needs and psychology results in lower recidivism. The study compared the Forever Free Program, "a voluntary, intensive residential treatment program for women inmates with substance abuse problems at the California Institution for Women in Corona, California" which stressed female empowerment in a positive fashion vs. The more conventionally-structured Life Plan for Recovery, a traditional 'get tough' 8-week substance abuse education course (Reentry programs for women inmates, 2005, Reentry programs for women inmates). The results were striking and statistically significant in nature: "Forever Free Program participants reported being rearrested and/or convicted at a significantly lower rate than participants in the comparison group (40% versus 60%)" and "a significantly lower percentage of Forever Free participants reported any drug use since release from custody (51% versus 77%)" (Reentry programs for women inmates, 2005, Reentry programs for women inmates). Forever Free participants also rated significantly higher on measures of mental health, treatment motivation and attendance, gainful employment, and had less of a need for social services to support their recovery post-treatment. They were also more likely to retain custody of their children.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that treating women 'the same' as male prisoners often results in injustices given the greater psychological component that is linked to female criminality. Women are also the victims of social and economic injustice and disempowerment by males that must be addressed to prevent recidivism and rehabilitate female inmates. A feminist paradigm acknowledges patriarchal injustices and seeks to address them with women-specific programs.