Introduction
Prisons are meant to promote dependency, but this is not always the case when women are detached from their beloved families. Women offenders lie mostly in possessions crimes such as falsification, misappropriation, and deception. Most of the crimes that are committed by females are usually directed towards their lovers may be retaliating prolonged abuse. From the survey done by the U.S Department of Justice in 1991, about two-thirds of female inmates were charged with the offense of victimizing a close relative, a person they were close to or one they knew well (Snell & Danielle1).
Females are discriminated against inside the prisons by security personnel, and due to their disunity, they become more marginalized. Is it proper to conclude that absurdity characterizes the social experiences of female inmates in pursuit to cope with various issues inside the prisons? This paper will address this question in detail, supported by the historical perspective, statistical evidence, and various female experiences while in the confinements.
Historical Perspective
In the U.S, Women imprisonment started around eighteen fifteen to eighteen sixty. The U.S was undergoing an expansive social transformation as a result of the movement from rural to the urban, influx of immigrants as well as economic growth which altered the lives of people. Urban development was followed by socio-economic issues that overburdened women who were mostly marginalized. They had fewer chances of securing work, and if they did, the income was too low.
As a result, prostitution thrived following the civil war, and property offenses accelerated. Laws regarding sexual conduct were formulated, and failure to abide by them resulted in punishments. ‘Fallen Women’ was the phrase used to describe these women, and this stigmatized them. They were regarded as social misfits and could not secure a job, which further enhanced criminal offenses as a survival means. Those incarcerated were not given attention since they were a minority and were believed that they couldn’t reform. They faced discrimination and were neglected, unlike their male counterparts (Banks 3).
Statistical Evidence
In-state prisons, the female inmates increased by seventy-five percent from nineteen eighty-six to nineteen ninety-one. In these prisons, many women exceeded the age of thirty years especially the ethnic minority.
Several women were subjected to physical and psychological assault before being imprisoned, and therefore, many suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. Before being admitted to the prisons, over four out of ten women claimed they were victims of abuse either physically or sexually. Currently, there is a rising trend in cases of women being engaged in drug crimes. Women prisoners have fallen victim to the ongoing drug policy in the United States.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (1991) stated that female inmates are on the rise due to drug offenses (one every three female inmates, as compared to one in every eight in nineteen eighty-six). It stated that eighty percent of all female inmates are implicated with drug crimes. Gender and racial differences are notable for these female inmates in federal and state prisons (Snell & Danielle 1).
Issues of Women Imprisonment
Children Suffering
A serious issue that crops up with women imprisonment is the presence of babies in the facilities. Pregnant mothers and others who have kids have no special amenities to cater for the little ones. They end up being separated from their children since the facilities cannot accommodate them. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (1991), over three-quarters of female inmates were mothers.
Two-thirds of female inmates in the U.S prisons had not less than one kid (less than eighteen years), and all added up to being mothers of over fifty-six thousand minors. Notably, they claimed that they kept in touch with their loved ones through emails or phones and rarely through visitations. These children, mostly, were left to their grandparents and just a few with their fathers (Snell & Danielle1).
Accordingly, this triggers other psychological issues that women have to experience and may even lead to mental illnesses (Harden & Marcia 5). It is, therefore, practical to either curb women imprisonment or else establishes facilities that can comfortably accommodate these children who need maternal love. Additionally, community-based rehabilitation centers may be a better way of striving toward behavioral reformation.
Female Victimization
Women in prison are pressurized into sex in exchange for individual hygiene incentives, evade punishment, or for more food. In the United States, the federal and state prisons hold as many as a hundred and forty-eight thousand, two hundred women where more than seventy percent of the sentries are men. Therefore, the females in these prisons fall victim to sexual abuse as they are watched when taking baths, in toilets, or while sleeping.
They sometimes are treated similarly to their male counterparts in a motive of trying to be neutral, and this only aggravates their agony. If such complaints are aired by the victims, they are threatened or punished by the security personnel. In various states, the security guards are ordered to assess the inmates’ records. Consequently, they blackmail these women by canceling their visitations, extending imprisonment periods, and if they forward their grievances, they are put into segregated jails.
In the United States, impunity is prevalent since prison personnel does not face the law if he engages in the assault but instead is moved into another facility, or the inmate is moved. The human condition in these prisons reflects absurdity and despairs. Women in prisons are a great percentage, and this not only has economic but also social repercussions as well. The society and female offender’s anticipation and their engagement in criminal offenses influence the debate on the issue of incarceration (Harden & Marcia 11).
Inadequate Healthcare
Women inmates usually are faced with the problem of medical incentives especially, when they are pregnant or are chronically ill e.g. with HIV/AIDS, cancer, among others. In-state prisons, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that those females (3.3%) who were HIV positive were greater than the males (2.1%) mostly as a result of sharing needles during drug injections (Snell & Danielle 9).
This issue is amplified and may even cause physical disabilities or even death. In other instances, there are no professional medical practitioners to handle health requirements for women. This results in delayed healthcare and poor medication, which leads to other serious issues such as death. Moreover, there are cases when the inmates are charged to be awarded the necessary healthcare claiming that it prevents the inmates from forwarding fake Illnesses due to pretense.
It impedes their contact with medication even when serious illnesses crop up. Elsewhere, women with reproductive needs have little or no access to gynecologists to offer them proper healthcare, which they should rightfully enjoy. Hence, there could be complications during the pregnancy or delivery, which may cause the death of both the mother and the baby or other major complications. Since women are so susceptible to psychological ailments, mental health is necessary for these inmates. However, very few prisons, if any, consider establishing such facilities to offer psychological counseling and psychotherapeutic medication to inmates.
Racial and Sexual orientation
In the female prisons, women have to fit the norms that the fellow inmate’s practices due to sexual orientation and ethnic backgrounds. Failure to cope, they are subjected to abuse, extortion, and anguish. For instance, In the United States prisons, African American females are highly incarcerated than whites. In-state prisons, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (1991) pointed out that forty-six percent of female inmates were blacks aged twenty-five to thirty-four years in a survey conducted (Snell & Danielle 2).
It shows that there are more black women inmates, and therefore if another woman of a different race is imprisoned, she faces racial prejudice. Sexual orientation, such as lesbianism may turn to be a difficult decision during a judicial ruling. There is bias since lesbians tend to be segregated or put together with male inmates. As a result, they are sexually assaulted by men. If they are put together with other women, they may pose a danger when they approach fellow females for sexual gratification.
Conclusion
The main issue facing women in prisons is being detached from their families and falling victims of abuse due to their gender identity. They are so susceptible, and when they are imprisoned, they undergo psychological and physical damages. They, in most cases, fall, victims of marginalization because most of them are not provided with the proper facilities they require since most prisons have been planned for men.
As a result, their lives lose meaning since they have emotional ties with their families, and some of them end up being mentally ill. However, prisons are inevitable for those individuals who pose a great hazard to society. Although many female inmates are petty offenders, many present serious issues with drugs, psychologically or socially. A prison, therefore, cannot be the only institution to rehabilitate these offenders. Importantly, the prison detaches women from their homes, keeping them far from the children, and it is only logical if other means of rehabilitation were put in place to curb absurdity present in the prisons.
Works Cited
Banks, Cyndi. Women in Prison. California: ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2003. Print.
Harden, Judy and Marcia, Hill. Breaking The Rules: Women in Prison and Feminist Therapy. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc. 1998. Print.
Snell, Tracy and Danielle, Morton. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991. U.S Department of Justice. March, 1994. Web.