1. Incarceration of Women
Chapter 12
Incarceration of Women

2. Incarceration of Women
Women: Forgotten Offenders
Historical Perspective
The Incarceration of Women in the United States
The Reformatory Movement
The Post-World War II Years
Women in Prison
Characteristics of Women in Prison
The Subculture of Women’s Prison
Males versus Female Subcultures
Issues in the Incarceration on Women
Sexual Misconduct
Educational and Vocational Programs
Medical Services
Mothers and Their Children
Release to the Community

3. Why women tend to be the “forgotten offenders”
women commit fewer crimes than men
female criminality tends to be less serious than male criminality
historically, women have tended more often than men to be “excluded” from the justice system, by lenient treatment
women constitute a small proportion of the correctional population (6%)
popular social attitude tends to put all females in a subservient position

4. Imprisonment of Women in The US

5. Institutionalized “Sexism”: caused by low status of female criminality
women’s prisons are located farther from friends & family, inhibiting visits, especially for the poor
women’s prisons lack diverse educational, vocational, and other programs available in men’s prisons
women’s prisons lack specialization in treatment and fail to segregate offenders who present special problems or have special needs

6. gender and crime: who’s arrested for what?

7. evolution of women’s prisons
END of reformatory movement
“ran its course” by 1935; no new correctional models
1st female-run prison for women
Indiana, 1873
run for women, by women
Alderson Prison
West Virginia, 1927
1st federal prison for women.
Mary Belle Harris, warden
House of Shelter
Detroit, post civil war
1st reformatory for women.
run by Zebulon Brockway
Women’s Prison Asso.
New York, 1844
created to improve treatment of & separate females from male inmates
Elizabeth Fry
1st to press for reform in treatment of women & children

8. female prison reform in 1800s guiding principles
separation of women from men
provision of differential care for women
management of women’s prisons by female staff

9. features distinguishing female from male prisons
women’s prisons
shorter sentences
smaller
less committed to inmate code
looser security
inmate-staff relations less structured
less developed underground economy
less physical violence

10. female inmate profiles
predominately Black (46%) or White (36%)
between ages of (50%)
never married (45%)
some high school (46%) or graduated (23%)
Similar to characteristics of male inmates

11. female prison subcultures (per Heffernan)
“square” (like ‘gleaning’)
situational offender
adheres to conventional norms & values
“the life” (like ‘jailing’)
persistent offenders
act in prison as they did on the outside
antisocial, stand firm against authority
represent about half of female prisoners
“cool” (like ‘doing time’)
professionals; controlled & manipulative; ‘keep busy, play around, stay out of trouble and get out’

12. “pseudo-families”
a distinguishing hallmark of the “subculture” in many women’s prisons (as compared with men’s)
women often cope with the stresses of incarceration by bonding together in extended “families” of convenience.
different women play the roles of various members of the family, including father, mother, siblings, grandchildren, even cousins

13. key issues in the incarceration of women
educational & vocational training
female programs tend to reflect stereotypical “female” occupations
women’s programs less ambitious than men’s
medical services
women have more serious health problems
mothers & their children
167,000 American children (2/3 of whom are under 10) have a mother in jail or prison
65% of incarcerated mothers were single caretakers of minor children.

14. official sexual misconduct in prison
number of cases of misconduct by male officers in on increase, with increase in female inmates
e.g., Houston Cagle & Susan Smith, 2000
Officers may abuse authority to compel sex by withholding goods and privileges to prisoners or by rewarding them with same
42 states have enacted legislation prohibiting sexual misconduct