Women in Prison

In the average person's mind a criminal is a horrible person; a person different than us, bent on reeking havoc and mayhem in society and in the lives of law abiding citizens. That a criminal could be someone just like us, who was denied their basic needs through poverty or discrimination, is not something that society acknowledges. It is easier to convince ourselves that criminals are faceless, sociopaths who have no chance or interest in reforming. It is easier to believe that they deserve to be in prison so that we can ignore the fundamental causes of their deviant behavior-that society creates the environment for criminal behavior then punishes this behavior, often cruelly and with extreme prejudice. This is not a reality that many in society can or will admit. This allows most people to justify the harsh reality of our jail and prison system. If we believe that the individuals that are sent to prison truly deserve to be there, and deserve to be treated as something other that human, then we can justify the cruel and unusual punishment that is the United States correctional system.

Society fears the criminal. People do not want to be the victims of crime. So the idea that our government is 'tough on crime' makes people feel safer. But, the consequences of how our society utilizes jails and prisons are increasing and they are extreme. We have turned prisons into 'caves' that keep society's undesirables hidden and controlled so that the average individual can ignore them. Society uses prisons to ignore the problems of racial discrimination, of poverty, of unemployment, of drug use, and of any other social deviancy that it does not want to deal with. It is easier to put a person away in prison than to deal with the problems that caused them to be there.

The United States' prison system is currently seeing an increase in a certain part of society's population that, until just recently, was treated with leniency and restraint-women. "Women represent the fasted growing population in prison. Between 1980 and 1993, the growth rate for the female prison population increased approximately 313%, compared to 182% for men in the same period. At the end of 1993 women accounted for 5.8% of the total prison population and 9.3% of the jail population nationwide" (CEML).

With the demand for equal treatment in all other aspects of life, women are now receiving harsher punishments for violating the law. However, the portion of the female population experiencing the worst increase in punishment is poor and is women of minority groups. "Women prisoners are disproportionately women of color, with African American women comprising 46% of the population nationwide, White women comprising 36%, and Hispanic Women comprising 14%." (CEML)

An additional form of prejudice is occurring-that of the poor, single mother. Prior to their incarceration, most women lived in poverty. "The profile that emerges in study after study is that of a young, single mother with few marketable job skills, a high school drop-out who lives below the poverty level. Seventy-five percent are between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four, are mothers of dependent children, and were unemployed at the time of arrest" (Kurshan). The majority in prison (53%) and in jail (74%) were unemployed prior to incarceration (CEML). Therefore, it is obvious that economic conditions are a root cause of the rise of female crime. Women, as the primary caretakers of children, "may be driven by poverty to engage in more 'crimes of survival'" (Kurshan).

Additionally, when women are imprisoned, the repercussions are felt strongly within her family. 67% of incarcerated women are mothers of children under 18. 70% of these women had custody of their dependent children prior to incarceration. In addition, 6% of women are pregnant when they enter prison and are "abruptly separated from their child after giving birth". Also, since there are less female prison facilities, an imprisoned woman is far away from her home and family. This distance causes considerable problems for children and deprives women contract with their children. (Kurshan)

The most startling fact is that many women, who eventually commit crimes, left their parent's home early, sometimes due to sexual and physical abuse and 90% of women in prison are substance abusers. Additionally, "women prisoners report significant histories of domestic violence". 32% (approximately 4,000 women) of women "serving sentences for murder were convicted of killing a husband, ex-husband or boyfriend". Obviously, abuse in one form or another can and does lead many women to crime. (Kurshan)

The abuse doesn't end, either, once a woman is incarcerated. Medical care for female prisoners is poor because prison health care systems were designed for men. Therefore, "routine gynecological care, such as pap smears, breast exams and mammograms, is extremely rare in prisons. Care is frequently only administered once the situation becomes an emergency." (Kurshan)

Women, "the fastest-growing segment of the prison population" are mostly incarcerated for self-defense against abusive partners, or non-violent offenses that are a result of trying to meet the needs of their children and family (Kurshan). Yet, because the number of women in prison is relatively small, in comparison to the number of men in prison, they are overlooked by the system and are ignored. Instead of trying to fix the problems of poverty and discrimination, of physical abuse and of neglect, and of drug possession and use, it has proven easier to put women in prison. The root of the problem is ignored and the criminal justice system is utilized as a method of social oppression and control.

WORK CITED

(CEML) Committee to End the Marion Lockdown: Walking Steel "Women in Prison"Sources: National Women's Law Center, Washington, D.C., and Chicago Legal Aid to Incarcerated Mothers. Website Viewed January 12, 2005.
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~kastor/walking-steel-95/ws-women-in-prison.html

Kurshan, Nancy. Women and Imprisonment in the U.S.: History and Current Reality. Website viewed January 12, 2005
http://prisonactivist.org/women/women-and-imprisonment.html

(PARC) Prison Activist Resource Center. Website Viewed January 5, 2005. http://prisonactivist.org/