Women's Imprisonment
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050004700209 |
| Published date | 01 June 2000 |
| Date | 01 June 2000 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
136
RESEARCH
&
REPORTS
Women’s
Imprisonment
Over
the
last
seven
years,
the
number
of
women
in
prison
has
doubled
from
1,600
to
3,300,
with
the
vast
majority
being
imprisoned
for
non-violent
offences.
This
Prison
Reform
Trust
report
draws
on
evidence
from
recent
studies,
relevant
literature
and
a
wide-ranging
consultation
exercise
to
produce
a
balanced
and
authoritative
evaluation
of
the
context
of
women’s
imprisonment.
The
basic
contention
is
that
the
Criminal
Justice
System
generally
and
the
Prison
System
in
particular,
have
seriously
disadvantaged
women
prisoners
by
failing
to
take
their
particular
needs
into
account.
This
has
resulted
in
a
&dquo;system
of
treatment
for
women
offenders
which
lacks
both
coherence
and
justification&dquo;.
Four
distinct
characteristics
of
women
entering
the
Criminal
Justice
System
are
identified:
.
Their
pattern
of
offending
is
different
to
that
of
men
and,
in
particular,
reflects
a
lesser
risk
of
harm
to
the
public.
.
The
fact
that
a
large
proportion
of
imprisoned
women
have
dependent
children
means
that
their
incarceration
has
wider
and
longer
term
social
repercussions
than
that
of
men.
.
There
is
evidence
of
more
adverse
psychological
consequences
of
imprisonment,
particularly
in
view
of
higher
levels
of
psychiatric
morbidity
and
adverse
early
life
experiences.
.
The
logistical
problems
presented
by
the
fact
that
the
number
of
women
prisoners
is
still
relatively
small
means
that
many
are
held
in
prisons
far
from
their
homes.
This
greatly
restricts
the
type
of
regime
that
can
be
provided.
Women
Prisoners
and
Prison
Regimes -
The
vast
majority
of
women
prisoners
are
serving
short
sentences
(less
than
12
months)
and
about
half
have
been
imprisoned
for
theft,
handling
stolen
goods
or
fraud/forgery.
They
are
less
likely
than
men
to
offend
and
less
likely
to
commit
serious
crimes.
The
report
concludes
that
as
the
’official
agenda’
requires
a
greater emphasis
on
the
protection
of
the
public
from
offenders
deemed
to
present
a
danger
to
the
public,
it
has
&dquo;...
become
increasingly
irrelevant
to
the
realities
of
female
offending
and
increasingly
destructive
in
its
effect&dquo;.
Other
issues
such
as
the
large
female
remand
population,
drug
use
and
mental
health
problems,
patterns
of
medication,
sentence
planning
and
temporary
release
are
carefully
examined.
For
example,
the
report
criticises
poor
health
care
facilities
and
the
fact that
the
Government
has
not
taken
firmer
action
to
remove
responsibility
for
prison
health
care
from
the
Prison
Service.
Punishment
and
Sentencing -
The
report
argues
that
the
’just
deserts’
principles
which
have
underpinned
sentencing
policy
since
the
1991
Criminal
Justice
Act,
are
’diluted’
by
concerns
about
deterrence
and
incapacitation,
and
are
in
any
case
limited
and
confusing.
Thus
the
fact
that
most
women
are
incapacitated
in
prison
for
only
a
short
time,
while
their
relationships,
employment,
housing
and
other
areas
of
their
lives
are
disrupted,
runs
counter
to
the
argument
that
imprisonment
assists
public
protection.
It
is
proposed
that
three
fundamental
principles
should
permeate
the
Criminal
Justice
System:
.
Respect
for
the
rights
and
responsibilities
of
citizenship;
.
Evaluation
of
the effectiveness
of
criminal
justice
policy
by
its
social
outcomes;
and
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