Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences by Lilly J. Robert & Francis T. Cullen

Author:Lilly J. Robert & Francis T. Cullen [Robert, Lilly J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781483321875
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2014-10-21T04:00:00+00:00

CONSEQUENCES OF FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY FOR CORRECTIONS

Women comprise only 7% of the U.S. correctional population, but their number has risen in past years even more rapidly than is true for men. In fact, by 2006 there were almost 200,000 women in prisons and jails in the United States, an approximate increase of 100% from 5 years before. During the 30-year span between 1977 and 2007, the female prison population grew 832% (West & Sabol, 2008). The male prison population grew 416% during the same time period (West & Sabol, 2009). The number of women on probation between 1997 and 2007 increased from 524,200 to 987,427, an 88% increase in one decade. Another recent study tracked changes in new admissions to prison (as opposed to those in prison). This analysis found that between 1991 and 2006, “new court commitments to state prisons for violent offenses increased 30% for males and 79% for females” (Carson & Golinelli, 2013b). By 2011, the increase in numbers had continued to expand to 83%.

The so-called steel ceiling (often attributed to the so-called chivalry hypothesis) that used to divert women to correctional alternatives such as probation or other forms of community-based treatment, has been cracking for some time (Kruttschnit & Green, 1984), in part because women are committing a greater number of crimes of the sort that bring men to jail and prison, in part because of mandatory sentencing, in part because of the “war on drugs” that is sometimes called a “war on women,” and perhaps in part because of a “vengeful equity” that has led the criminal justice system to respond to women’s demand for equality with an equity that makes them pay for such demands (Chesney-Lind, 1998). At the same time, it is widely recognized that correctional systems were designed for men and that their deficiencies are magnified when dealing with women (Bill, 1998).

The human rights movement in general and feminist criminology in particular have called attention to several major problems facing correctional systems for women. Clearly, women bring different needs to prison. For example, approximately 80% of women inmates have dependent children, many of whom will have to be placed in foster care or even institutionalized themselves because there is no one else available to care for them. Egalitarian thought may insist that much the same is true for men, but it is still true than women are more family oriented than men, that they do most of the child caring, and that women inmates express more anxiety over their children than do male inmates (Allen, Latessa, Ponder, & Simonson, 2007).

Although the exact figure is unknown (with estimates of about 5%), a significant number of women enter prison pregnant. They need special diets, lighter work assignments, a less stressful environment, and other medical and environmental adjustments. Some female prisons have started programs, but these are rare. For example, Washington State has a nursery program, and California has initiated a Community Prisoner Mother Program in which inmate mothers live with their young children in seven small community-based facilities.

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