Female Inmates

“The female prison population grew up 832% from 1977-2007. The male prison population grew 416% during the same period”. Even though there are much fewer women in prison today versus men, the rate at which women are being incarcerated as increased at an alarming rate. A majority of the crimes women commit are non violent, such as drug and property offenses. In the United States there are approximately 200,000 females behind bars. California is the state that has the largest amount of prisoners, currently at 5,010 inmates. In addition California “hosts” the world’s largest women’s prison, the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. There are 3 major women’s prisons in California. Besides, CCWF, there is Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW), also in the Central Valley, and the California Institution for Women (CIW) in Corona. There are many issues that women in prison must face: medical care, parenting, lack of proper resources, and sexual abuse. In trying to better understand incarcerated females, I will talk about a brief history of women inmates in the early 1900’s as well as women’s offenses and issues of interest with women inmates. In doing so I will attempt to answer the question: Who are these women being incarcerated in the United States?

In the beginning of the 19th century, there were few women imprisoned, and as a result, these small numbers were subjected to particularly harsh conditions. Both men, and women prisoners in the early 1900’s had to endure harsh treatment, filthy conditions, and overcrowding. However, because of the lack of women matrons(women that oversaw female inmates) for female prisoners, women were defenseless, and “vulnerable to attack from prison guards”. In addition women were not allowed to go to mess halls, exercise yards, workshops and had less access to physicians compared to male prisoners. Instead women were stuck in their cells, with their meals brought to them, basically left to die for the remainder of their sentences. Taking for example, the Auburn Penitentiary in New York in the 1920’s.Women were housed together in a one room attic, the windows were sealed preventing communication with men. The only options for women prisoners were penitentiaries, and custodial units which followed a “masculine model” . This model focused on “hard labor and harsh discipline”. The women’s reformatory movement emerged in the 1870’s with the development of reformatories which had more humane conditions and focused on actual rehabilitation. However in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression these reformatories were merged with custodial units, and because of lack of funding Reformatories lost their focus.



A typical female in the prison system is African American, or Latina. Unfortunately, a majority of these women have minimal education, and job skills. “Ninety-three out of every 100,000 white women were incarcerated at midyear 2008. During the same time period, 349 out every 100,000 black women and 147 out of every 100,000 Hispanic women were incarcerated”. This shocking statistic is just one of the many which exhibit the racial bias in our criminal justice system. According to prisonpolicy.org Black Women compared to White Women are, “over-arrested, over-indicted, under-defended and over-sentenced”.

Women in prison have many distinctive healthcare issues from male inmates. “As of December 31, 2005, 65.7% of women in California prisons were imprisoned for non-violent offenses, the majority of which were drug-related”(CDCR). A majority of female inmates have drug problems. Unfortunately even though many women entering prison have drug related problems, there is a lack of programs which therefore prevent women from getting the treatment they need to overcome their addictions. Another increasing problem, is the high rates of HIV and AIDS among female inmates. Since a majority of female inmates have problems with abusing drugs and prostitution. “57% of women in State prison report that they were physically or sexually abused prior to incarceration”(www.prisons.org).In regards to reproductive issues, women who give birth in prison are shackled. Because of the restrictive manner in which women inmates give birth in prison their babies are at risk. Studies have shown that women who are shackled during childbirth, develop complications such as decreased fetal heart rate. And in addition if a women needs a c-section, because of the increased time due to being shackled while birthing the child, the extra time(delay) can cause brain damage in the baby. A lot of women inmates have histories of physical, and sexual abuse. These histories, are often as a result of abusive male family members, husbands, or intimate partners. Because of histories of sexual, and physical abuse, a lot of incarcerated women have mental issues such as post traumatic stress disorder. However there are very few female prisons that offer the proper counseling services for these women.


“Most women prisoners are mothers. 64% have minor children, and 60% were living with their kids when arrested”(www.prisons.org). The issue of women inmates and their families are considerably different than men and their families. A majority of women in prison were the main providers for their families. So as a result, their families often get separated during their imprisonment. Often children of incarcerated females get “lost” in the foster care system. In addition many female prisons across the country are located in rural areas. A lot of women who get sent to prison come from urban, low income families. Taking California’s female prisons, for example. Two of the three women’s prisons are in Chowchilla (central California), and the third is located in Corona in southern California. For many families without cars, the trip to the prisons can be a difficult one. Unfortunately children are the ones who have to pay the price, for their mothers incarcerations. For many young toddlers an school age children the experiences along of just visiting their mothers can be traumatizing. According to the TIMES article, Mothers in Prison, children are subjected to strip searches.


Finally I will touch on the topic of sexual misconduct occurring in female US prisons. There have been many accounts of female inmates being raped, coerced to have sex, pat down searches which were inappropriate, or have been violated in some way by correctional staff(medical, officers). Rule 53 of the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners declares that women prisoners must be supervised only by female officers. However the predominately male percentage of correctional officers, observe female inmates at all times. Some examples include: taking showers, dressing, and going to the bathroom. Until early 2006, male guards were allowed to pat search female prisoners in California (California Prison Focus). However because of a series of human rights campaigns in 2005,CDCR ended cross gender pat searches of women prisoners in California.

Even though women in our nation’s prisons and jails have committed crimes, there are special circumstances surrounding women and imprisonment. There are issues that women have to deal such as sexual abuse, reproductive and mental health issues, substances abuse issues, and lack of job/employment skills. Because of these issues, when these inmates are eventually released it will be like a cycle. A cycle that will not fix the problem, the problem surrounding women inmates in the criminal justice system.




Sources:
M Kay Harris (1998)Women’s Imprisonment in the United states, Corrections Today 60,7; Criminal Justice periodicals p.74
Kursham, Nancy “Women and Imprisonment in the US” www.prisonactivist.org
“Women & Criminal Justice-2009” http://www.wpaonline.org/pdf/Quick%20Facts%20Women%20and%20CJ%202009.pdf
“Women in Prison” America, 5/29/2006, Vol. 194 Issue 19, p5-5, 1p;
www.cdcr.com California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Drummond, Tammerlin “Mothers in Prison” TIME magazine Oct. 9, 2009
Women Prisoners: Altering the Cycle of Abuse. By: Fettig, Amy, Human Rights: Journal of the Section of Individual Rights & Responsibilities, 00468185, Spring2009, Vol. 36, Issue 2
www.prisonpolicy.org
http://www.womenprisoners.org/resources/critical_statistics.html