Moreover, more than half of the geriatric women in California prisons reported falling within the past year; 40% of imprisoned women with a PADL impairment reported suffering from depression; 53% of the women with an ADL impairment reported having depression (illiams, 704). A total of 23% of the geriatric women that were part of this survey reported "feeling unsafe in their cells" and 34% reported "physical abuse by other prisoners" (illiams, 705). One geriatric female inmate reported:
"There are some older women who can't take care of themselves, so to be in a room with eight women and to be in a room with aggressive women is not a very safe place for them to be [living]… what happens is you see a lot of older women with black eyes" (illiams, 705). Interestingly, 68% of women with PADL impairment were made to work full time, and 50% of women with ADL…...
mla
Williams, Brie a., Lindquist, Karla, Sudore, Rebecca L., Strupp, Heidi M., Willmott, Donna J.,
and Walter, Louise C. (2006). Being Old and Doing Time: Functional Impairment and Adverse Experiences of Geriatric Female Prisoners. Journal of the American Geriatric
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…...
mla
References
Blitz, C.L., Wolff, N., Ko-Yu, P., & Pogorzelski, W. (2005). Gender-specific behavioral health and community release patterns among New Jersey prison inmates: Implications for treatment and community reentry. American Journal of Public Health, 95(10), 1741-6.
Brewer-Smyth, K., Bucurescu, G., Shults, J., Metzger, D., Sacktor, N., Gorp, W. v., & Kolson,
D. (2007). Neurological function and HIV risk behaviors of female prison inmates. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 39(6), 361-72.
Case, P., Fasenfest, D., Sarri, R., & Phillips, A. (2005). Providing educational support for female ex-inmates: Project PROVE as a model for social reintegration. Journal of Correctional Education, 56(2), 146-157
Corrections officers serve a distinct role in the criminal justice system. They are involved in the day-to-day lives of inmates, and are responsible for maintaining prison safety, security, and integrity. In some ways, corrections officers may fulfill a role similar to that of a guard, whereby they enforce the rules and regulations of the institution, prevent problems such as inmate fighting or rioting, monitor inmate behavior, prevent escapes, and may administer punishments to inmates. Occasionally, correctional officers may need to use force when mitigating behavioral problems among inmates. Essentially, corrections officers represent the authority of the criminal justice system within the prison framework. Correctional officers may sometimes be involved in rehabilitation efforts, too, helping steer inmates toward specific self-improvement methods such as educational programs or job training programs. Likewise, correctional officers might be involved in parole hearings to offer testimony based on the behavior and status of an inmate. The…...
mla
References
Griffin, M.L. (2013). From resistence to integration. Chapter 15 in Routledge International Handbook of Crime and Gender Studies. Renzetti, et al. (Eds). Routledge.
Questionnaires and certain biometric tests (for blood pressure) were used to asses prisoners and their attitudes and perceptions in two assessments spread out by four months. The results of this data collection were then analyzed using standard statistical software and techniques to determine if there were any correlations between the measured variables, which were established using scales specifically developed for the study.
Limitations: The authors do not actually explicitly list any limitations in this study. They do note that an initial cohort comprising twenty-six individuals in addition to the eighty who yielded data for final analysis were initially included in the study, however these individuals failed to participate in the second assessment. There were some notable differences between the groups that finished the second assessment and those that did not, especially the length of prison sentences (those only completing the first assessment had shorter sentences; their release might have been…...
Performance-Based Standards
Accreditation plan for the American Correctional Association
The accreditation of the correctional facilities is aimed at ensuring the well-being of the inmates but also is targeted at benefiting the employees, the victims, the courts as well as the legislators of a state. The standards that are set do allow the protection of the judicial system from embarrassment as well as allowing the correctional institutions to have and retain the autonomy from outside interventions.
Goals and functions of functional areas
Safety; this involves provision of conditions that are humane, protection of the inmates from rape and possible assault, giving of nutritious food as well as medical care, giving the inmates a hygienic living environment and recreation activities. This will ensure the inmates are safe from ill health or physical harm while within the walls of the facility as well as being safe from abusive guards.
Security; this functional are include the physical security of…...
Aleinikoff, . (2014). Between National and Postnational: Membership in the United States. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 110-129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230554795
his paper focuses on the 'postnational viewpoint' to the American notion of sovereignty and membership. he author defines what postnational viewpoint is and explains it means the view that a universal model of membership is replacing national citizenship and is doing so because it is anchored within deterritorialized concepts of persons' rights. Essentially this means there is a respect for global human rights norms leading to a "deterritorialized membership." his is important to consider when comparing the states of prisons in Russia and the United States because the rights of prisoners may reach a form of universal expression in that everyone gets treated in a way that people deem appropriate regardless of location.
Kennedy, S., Sharapova, S., Beasley, D., & Hsia, J. (2016). Cigarette Smoking Among Inmates by Race/Ethnicity: Impact of Excluding African-American Young Adult…...
mla
This article shares the extent of prison conditions in an American prison named Pelican Bay State Prison in California. July 1, 2011, prisoners there started a sustained hunger strike. The reason being the majority of them were kept in complete solitary confinement, experiencing conditions considered torturous like extreme sensory deprivation for over five years. Some were kept in isolation for two decades. They asked for basic things during their strike like a phone call once a week, warm clothes to go outside in, supply of decent food, and a chance at escaping solitary confinement. {risons like this show how bad the American prison system can be.
Sarang, A., Platt, L., Vyshemirskaya, I., & Rhodes, T. (2016). Prisons as a source of tuberculosis in Russia. International Journal of Prisoner Health, 12(1), 45-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijph-07-2014-0022
This study examines the poor conditions of Russian prisons that leads to a prevalence of tuberculosis. They analyze the poor prevention, treatment, and management of tuberculosis through collecting data from qualitative interviews with participants that are former medical specialists and prisoners in the region of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. They also show aside from poor management of tuberculosis infection; HIV infection are poorly managed revealing a poor prison health system in Russia. The study highlights the need for reform of the health system as well as the most common serious infections in Russian prisons. The most common being Tuberculosis and HIV.
More recently, Miedzian (1991) has studied peer pressure, the socialization process, and military impact that has resulted in violence becoming standard behavior in males, and Thompson (1991) has demonstrated that violent acts are more often performed by males with greater masculine gender orientations.
Another slant on this topic was placed by West and Zimmerman (1987) in "Doing Gender," that looked at gender not in terms of a set of traits that are held by individuals, but rather as something people do together in their social interactions. In this case, gender is basically about social interaction and establishing relationships. It is an integral part of all daily interactions. Where a person's actions in "doing gender" simultaneously produce, reproduce, sustain and legitimate the social meanings accorded to gender. The authors state that gender is a fundamental aspect of all social relationships, in terms that no one can possibly not do gender if…...
mla
References
Carrigan, C., Connell, R.W., & Lee, J. (1985), Toward a new sociology of masculinity, Theory and Society, 14 (5), 551-604.
Cloward, Richard a. And Lloyd E. Ohlin. 1960. Delinquency and Opportunity: a theory of delinquent gangs. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
ace, Class and Gender and Correctional Settings
Today, the United States incarcerates more than 25% of low-income young black males, so it is reasonable to suggest that there is an inextricable relationship between race, socioeconomic class and gender and the institutional correctional community. It is also reasonable to suggest that this relationship has a corresponding impact on clients, staff and the administration of correctional institutions. To determine the facts, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature to identify the role of race, class and gender within the institutional correctional community and the impact of these variables on clients, staff, and administration. Finally, an analysis concerning the impact of race, class, and gender on current correctional institutions is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning the relationship between race, class and gender within the institutional correctional community in the conclusion.
Camp, S.D. & Steiger, T.L. Gender and racial differences in perceptions of career opportunities and the work environment in a traditionally white, male occupation:
Correctional workers in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In N.A. Jackson (ed.).
Contemporary issues in criminal justice: Shaping tomorrow's system, pp. 258-277,
Corcoran State Prison: Prison Culture and Effect on Inmates
The prisons in the U.S. have a long history of offering correction services and rehabilitation for the people convicted of various crimes within the society. There have been increased incarceration of inmates over the last few decades with prisons getting more populated than before hence the introduction of the privately run correction facilities to help handle the large number of people within the prison walls at any given time. However, the inclusion of the private prisons have not helped matters much neither have they improved the rehabilitation process or the living standards of the inmates in comparison to the state owned correction facilities. There have continued to thrive the prison cultures and in effect influenced the way the prisoners relate to each other and even relate to the correctional officers. This prison culture will be the focus of this paper and the…...
The Home Office website was also a good source of informstion in this regard. A very good article that shed light on the more negative view of Holloway prison as well as units in other prisons was Getting it right? Services for pregnant women, new mothers, and babies in prison. An extremely useful report that deals specifically with Holloway prison was REPORT ON AN UNANNOUNCED FOLLOW-UP INSPECTION OF HM PRISON HOLLOWAY 11 -- 15 December 2000
Y HM INSPECTORATE OF PRISONS. This report provide some telling and insightful data that invaluable in terms of assessing the value and function of the mother and baby units in this prison.
4. Theoretical aspects
There are many theoretical aspects that pertain to the issue of mother and child units at a prison such as Holloway. In general terms, and from a criminological perspective, there is the view that units of this kind are important in…...
mla
Bibliography
Burrell I. Jail baby units reviewed 1998 [Online] Available at: By
Incarcerated Women
The number of people incarcerated in the United States has been on the rise and women have greatly contributed to this trend. Through their increased numbers in jail it is estimated that their numbers grow annually by about 8%. Women from minority groups form the major part of this population. These are the women who come from low economic backgrounds and areas neglected politically. The women of color are the majority of those incarcerated. They come from neighborhoods that are typically poor, have little access to mental health facilities and receive little or minimal help from social services. These women make up the larger proportion of inmates at jails, prisons, and detention centers. Irwin (2009) and Jenness (2010) states that these women are in jail for committing non-violent offences related to poverty, drug abuse and being abused domestically.
Thesis Statement
This paper will focus on the ethnography of incarcerated women. esearch…...
mla
References
Castellano, Ursula. (2007). Becoming a Nonexpert and Other Strategies for Managing Fieldwork Dilemmas in the Criminal Justice System. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 36:704-730.
Comfort, Megan. (2008). Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Comfort, Megan. (2008). Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Crewe, Ben. (2009). The Prisoner Society: Power, Adaptation and Social Life in an English Prison. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Not only was it cost effective but the study also reported that offenders who were treated in the community setting were 43% less likely to reoffend compared to the prison population clearly suggesting the effectiveness of community-based sentences. [Amanda Noblet, 2008, pg 27]
Conclusion
The criminal justice system is clearly unprepared and ill equipped to manage the unique needs of women in prison. There is clearly a need for a specific focus on Mental illness, sexual violence and drug abuse, reproductive health and other issues that are very relevant to the incarcerated female population. Clearly our female correctional facilities are under resourced and over crowded and overcrowded prisons are not ideal for reformation but instead create more problems. Since majority of women prisoners are incarcerated for minor drug related offenses and property crimes, a more liberal and effective reformative approach should be pursued. Community based alternative sentencing programs should be implemented…...
contrary, indications of a definite gender pay gap seem to persist. Wanzenreids (2008), for instance, conducted a large-scale study of 108,628 observations on 26,047 executives and 2,598 firms, between the years 1992 to 2003, and showed that women are working for smaller, less profitable firms than men and that female executives earn 14% less than their male colleagues. More so, the gender pay gap is higher towards the upper end of the pay distribution. As recently as 2002, women who worked more than thirty-five hours per week for fifty-two weeks per year earned only 78% as much as men (Giddens, Duneir, & Applebaum, 2003).
Most sociologists (e.g. Alksnis, Desmarais, & Curtis, 2008) seem to think that sexism is the determining factor for the differnce in gender wage, but it may just be that other, less innocuous, reasons may explain the disparity.
These include (1) self-selection by women into female-dominated industries, which…...
mla
Bibliography
Alksnis, C., Desmarais, S., & Curtis, J. (2008), Workforce segregation and the gender wage gap, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38, 1416-1441.
Giddens, A., Duneir, M. & Applebaum, R. (2003) Introduction to Sociology, London: Norton & Co.
Wanzenreid, G. (2004). How feminine is corporate America? J. Econ. Inequal, 6, 185-209.
delineation of the research hypotheses. The chapter will conclude with an outline of the remaining chapters.
Relevant Background Information
Increasingly, female offenders and issues associated with their incarceration have been identified as a problem of concern. Evidence suggests that female offenders represent a growing population within the U.S. penal system. Between 1986 and 1991, the number of female inmates in state prisons increased 75% (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1994). Between 1981 and 1991, the number of females incarcerated in federal penal institutions also increased by 24%. Since 1980 the population of women inmates has increased by more than 200% (Gabel & Johnston, 1995). Women inmates currently account for 9% of the entire prison population and of this group, 57% are women of color.
The majority of women are arrested for nonviolent crimes. Typical offenses include fraud, use of illegal drugs, and prostitution (Singer, Bussey, Song, & Lunghofer, 1995). Evidence also exists that…...
In the end this may require a campaign to recruit more female corrections officers and eliminate or reduce greatly the presence of male officers from female facilities. Because of past abuses, the presence of male officers may cause many psychological obstacles for female inmates even if the officers are not sexually abusing inmates.
Summary
The increase in the female inmate population coupled with the increase in the violent nature of crimes being committed by women has caused corrections organizations to hire male guards. On the one hand, the male guards have the physical strength to subdue a violent or aggressive inmate. On the other hand male guards can also serve as very intimidating figures in a population where the majority of the women have been sexually or physically abused before coming to prison. Prior abuses cause these women to be more vulnerable and more likely to be preyed upon by staff.…...
Coolman, Alex. 2003. Sexual Misconduct in Women's Facilities: The Current Climate. Corrections Today, October, 118+. Database online. Available from Questia, Accessed 31 July 2005.http://www.questia.com/.Internet.
Laderberg A. 1998. The 'Dirty Little Secret': Why Class Actions Have Emerged as the Only Viable Option for Women Inmates Attempting to Satisfy the Subjective Prong of the Eighth Amendment in Suits for Custodial Sexual Abuse. William and Mary Law Review. Volume: 40. (1) Page Number: 323-363.
Sex Abuse 'A Significant Problem' in Prisons. 2005. The Washington Times, 4 May, A06. Database online. Available from Questia, Accessed 31 July 2005.http://www.questia.com/.Internet.
Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library
of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
