Incarcerated women demonstrate characteristics that are unique to their status. As is the case with other groups of the population, incarcerated women often engage in self-mutilation behavior. This behavior occurs when the women intentionally harm, damage or mutilate themselves through cutting, burning, head banging or taking known poisons, with the intention to self destruct.
Second, these women often exhibit multiple risks behavior, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the development and progression of a deviant lifestyle. In many occasions, the multiple risks behavior stems from the fact that most of these women come from extremely troubled family backgrounds.
Third, many incarcerated women have issues with substance use and abuse, which interferes with their emotional and mental health. Fourth, a sizeable number of incarcerated women are victims of trauma experiences, including rape, domestic violence and parental irresponsibility. The fifth characteristic of incarcerated women is that they are more likely to exhibit a violent temperament than the general population.
Sixth, women in jail exhibit high risk for criminal recidivism than their male counterparts. Lastly, considering the demographic dynamics and socio-economic status, it is a well known fact that incarcerated women are often young, single, mothers from marginalized ethnic environments who have minimal education and extremely wanting work relationships.