Women Prison Crime

This book takes a comprehensive look at women in America's prisons, covering the history of women's prisons, crime rates, and sentencing practices. It provides detailed descriptions of prisoner subcultures, programs, management and staff issues, and legal issues of female prisoners, while also expanding beyond U.S. soil to compare women's prisons in other countries.

Study conducted at Chanchalguda Prison situated in Hyderabad city of Andhra Pradesh , India.

Historically, women have been an afterthought in criminal justice policymaking and the criminological enterprise. The study of criminology has largely been the study of criminal men, because women commit less crime than men. More recently, criminologists have paid increased attention to the population of female offenders, partly because of their growing numbers and partly because of the tens of thousands of children affected by having their mothers in prison or on supervised release. The recent attention, however, has not necessarily been a good thing for women, who are much more likely to be formally prosecuted and incarcerated today than in decades past. This policy shift has come about partly because of misinformed policies implemented to “help” women, and partly because of shifts in theorists’ beliefs and public perceptions that women and men are similar in their criminal motivations and should, therefore, be treated similarly. The controversy surrounding this perception is the focus of this book. To better comprehend the challenges facing women in the criminal justice system, the author (a winner of the Bruce Smith Sr. Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences) employs research findings and statistics to: describe the prevalence and patterns of women’s crimes; review criminological theories, specifically examining how well they explain female criminality; understand female juvenile offenders, reviewing crime rates, theories relating to female delinquency, and detention-related issues; look inside the women’s prison to better understand female prisoners and their world; examine classification and programming issues—particularly the impact of gender-specific programming; and explore the problems experienced by women upon release and the related issue of women’s recidivism.

"This work draws on the life stories of forty women inmates at a minimum security prison in North Carolina. It explores their lives before imprisonment, enabling the reader to understand their incarceration within the context of childhood and adolescent experiences, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, low education levels, and poor work histories. Lori B. Girshick relates the prisoners' views of doing time, the criminal justice system, and their own rehabilitation. She also interviews family members, friends, and social service providers to show how support networks function or fail." "Girshick argues convincingly that the treatment of women in society creates circumstances that lead some of them to break the law, and she makes specific recommendations for policies that address the need for social change and for community programs designed to deter crime."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In Search of Safety takes a close look at the sources of gendered violence and conflict in women’s prisons. The authors examine how intersectional inequalities and cumulative disadvantages are at the root of prison conflict and violence and mirror the women’s pathways to prison. Women must negotiate these inequities by developing forms of prison capital—social, human, cultural, emotional, and economic—to ensure their safety while inside. The authors also analyze how conflict and subsequent violence result from human-rights violations inside the prison that occur within the gendered context of substandard prison conditions, inequalities of capital among those imprisoned, and relationships with correctional staff. In Search of Safety proposes a way forward—the implementation of international human-rights standards for U.S. prisons.

It is old news that the conditions and policies of women's prisons are different from those for incarcerated men. Less evident, however, is how gender differences shape those policies, and how gender identity and roles shape women's adaptation and resistance to prison culture and control. The papers in this collection explore how the gender-based attitudes that women bring to prison frame how they respond to the prison environment -- and how gender stereotypes continue to affect the treatment and opportunities of incarcerated women today. It looks particularly at how the personal and social problems imported into the prison setting become part of the intricate web of prison culture and how extensively women's prison experience reflects the control and domination they experienced in the outside world.

Few empirical studies have focused on women in prison. In the last few years, though, a number of studies have demonstrated that there are fundamental differences between male and female prisoners in an ever-changing penal system. Consequently, there has been a need for more comprehensive studies of female offenders for three primary reasons: (1) imperative research gaps remain to be bridged; (2) the female prison experience is not constant; and (3) prison rates for female offenders, especially minority offenders, have increased considerably in the last few years. A central goal of this book, then, is to provide a balance to the existing literature and research on female prisoners in the United States and, to an extent, abroad, focusing primarily on female offenders and using data gathered from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. The book utilizes a comprehensive investigative approach by equating the experience of female offenders by the totality of circumstances within an historical, institutional, political, and ideological context. The critical objective is to offer an inclusive analysis of the things that are considered by female inmates to be the most significant before, during, and after their incarceration, as a way of better understanding the reasons that lead to their first incarceration as well as subsequent incarcerations. By reading this book, the reader will have a greater understanding of the many challenges facing female inmates, as well as the relationship between inmates, correctional officers and, by extension, society in general. Also provided is a series of policy recommendations throughout the book, particularly in the concluding chapter and epilogue.

This edited volume presents research about life in prison for women, discussing both incarcerated women and those working in prisons. It addresses women’s paths through the criminal justice system from sentencing through post-incarceration and reintegration into society, highlighting the differences in women's experience of prison compared to their male counterparts and noting both the positive and negative changes implemented for women behind bars. Covering research on stigma, pop culture, motherhood, sexuality and gender, access to healthcare, vocational training, and educational opportunities, this text takes both a local and international view. Women and Prison is a comprehensive volume suitable for criminal justice researchers, mental health professionals, students of criminology, women's studies, sociology and those seeking a career in corrections.

A critical perspective on the treatment of incarcerated women—and their children Inside and Out: Women, Prison, and Therapy challenges conventional thinking about the therapeutic issues facing female prisoners and their children. Therapists, counselors, scholars, and activists examine the injustices of the criminal justice system and the roles feminist therapists can play in deconstructing and demystifying the lives of women prisoners by becoming more involved in clinical work. Inside and Out: Women, Prison, and Therapy examines this growing problem from a feminist perspective, debunking stereotypes about women perpetrators with a thorough examination of gender-responsive treatment of women in a variety of settings. This unique book includes a macro analysis of gender and criminality; an assessment of violence and the abuse of women; parenting and the impact of incarceration on children; treatment approaches developed specifically for women prisoners; and an outline of what women need when leaving prison life. The book also examines crucial issues facing women prisoners, including sexual abuse and assault, substance abuse, mental and physical health concerns, human rights, violence, discrimination, and the unique problems of women prisoners of color. Topics addressed in Inside and Out: Women, Prison, and Therapy include: designing and delivering gender-responsive programs for women developing therapeutic measures to correct and normalize marginalized women mistreatment of women prisoners in the United States domestic violence and its connection to criminalization counseling sexually abused women motherhood, crime, and prison the effects of incarceration on children and families women, addiction, and incarceration using drama therapy with incarcerated women feminist support groups transitioning after release from prison and much more Inside and Out: Women, Prison, and Therapy is a vital professional resource for therapists and counselors who work with female prisoners and their families.

Focusing on women's relationships, life-circumstances and agency, Elaine Farrell reveals the voices, emotions and decisions of incarcerated women and those affected by their imprisonment, offering an intimate insight into their experiences of the criminal justice system across urban and rural post-Famine Ireland.