Gender Issues in Corrections Chapter Twelve

Women’s Prisons in the United States Historically, women were confined in separate quarters within men’s prisons

The Early Years 1880’s both men and women confined in the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia

Separate Quarters Mid-18th Century saw increasing rates of women offenders which prompted a move to provide them with prison quarters of their own.

Women’s Reformatories Reformatory movement began in 1870

Women’s Reformatories (continued) Indiana Women’s Prison was the first separate prison for women.

Racial Disparities Not all women received the benefits of the reformatory model with its emphasis on rehabilitation.

Racial Disparities (continued) African American women were routinely sentenced to custodial prisons, including the atrocious custodial plantation prisons of the South while white girls who committed the same offences were sent to reformatories.

Racial Disparities (continued) It is clear that racism continued to influence prisoner populations in the U.S. after the Civil War. –The proportions of African American women in prisons of the Northeast & Midwest continuously swelled grossly disproportionate to their representation in the general population.

Women Offenders Since 1990 the women offender population has doubled.

Women Offenders (continued) When demographics are taken into account, black and white offenders accounted for nearly equal proportions of women committing robbery and aggravated assaults.

Women’s Special Needs as Inmates

Women Correctional Officers Research is clear that the experience of women who have entered into male dominant occupations, almost unanimously, face discrimination in hiring, promotions, assignment policies, opposition and sexual harassment from male co-workers, and inadequacies in job training and socialization.

Women Correctional Officers (continued) Women correctional officers have historically suffered from discrimination in their attempt to forge an entry into the correctional field.

Women Correctional Officers (continued) Problems that women correctional officers have faced:

Women Correctional Officers Selected Advantages Women correctional officers add a degree of normalcy to an unreal environment for incarcerated males.

Women Correctional Officers Selected Advantages (continued) Male inmates seem to appreciate education more and work harder to achieve under a female teacher

Progress of Women in the Correctional Field Several legal decisions have assisted women in forging an entry into the corrections profession:

The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards & Goals Recommendations Change in correctional policies to eliminate discrimination against women for correctional work

What Correctional Administrators Must Do Recruiting, hiring, and retaining female correctional officers is vital to a balanced and effective organization

What Correctional Administrators Must Do (continued) Market the correctional agency to potential recruits as an open institution that values the concept of cultural diversity and inclusiveness