Women in prison were often exposed to sexual abuse by their male supervisors. There were rapes, beatings and sexual favors for the return of food or clothing in many of the nation's female penitentiaries.
One prison chaplain who was visiting women in the New York prison system recorded in his diary the hardships of women in prisons during that period of American history (Dodge, 1999).
To be a male convict in this prison would be quite tolerable; but to be a female convict, for any protracted period, would be worse than death (Dodge, 1999)."
Prison officials routinely ignored any need of female prisoners and instead complained about the experiences they had supervising a female population.
As the female population of prisoners grew however, families and loved ones of those in prison began to demand change.
For the last century there have been many changes implemented in the female prison system.
Today, there are facilities for women prisoners who are expecting babies. There are educational tools so that female prisoners can achieve their GED status and begin training for a career to enter upon their release (Shatell, 2004).
Many prisons for women have different mental health protocol and therapies than the men prisons have to accommodate the unique needs of women.
Because children suffer when their mothers are taken from them and put in prison many facilities allow a woman who gives birth in a prison to keep the baby with her for the baby's first year. As the baby bonds with the mother is also being taught job and
While there will always be prisons that will house the most dangerous criminals that happen to be female for the most part the nurturing of females is a trend that will be seen more as time goes on (Shatell, 2004).
Children will be able to stay with their mothers for weekend visits, playgrounds will be erected so that they have somewhere to play and interact with their children during those visits and mental health facilities will be incorporated into the women's correctional facilities even more so than they are today. Some of these trends are already starting but there has not been enough time to see if the results are positive.
CONCLUSION
Prisons for women are a relatively new program that began in this country in the 1800's as women began to get sent to jail for punishment for crimes they committed. The unique needs of female prisoners is something that is no longer complained about, but instead being looked at to address in the future with new and improved methods. Women prisons are working toward a rehabilitation atmosphere more than a punitive atmosphere and only time will tell how successful such institutions will become.
References
Dodge, L. Mara (1999) One female prisoner is of more trouble than twenty males": women convicts in Illinois prisons, 1835-1896. Journal of Social History
Shatell, Cathy (2004) Females in Prison: A Call for Change. Journal of Criminal Justice.
