Crime is an ongoing problem that has been evolving for many years. From incarceration to working in correctional facilities, women obtain unique characteristics in corrections. This paper gives an account of the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of the past accounts of women in corrections. The good addresses the struggles and obstacles women have overcome to gain equal access in corrections. The bad involves the harassment and negative aspects women were subjected to endure in a correctional setting, and negative situations from male offender and coworkers. The ugly gives a description of the sexual abuse and involvement between female correctional officers and male offenders in custody. This research paper will provide insight to women’s role in the correctional field; and will propose the use of rehabilitation programs and workshops for women correctional officers will provide adequate workers in correctional institutes. The Good – Establishing a Place in Corrections During the eighteenth century, most punishments took place within the community. Incarceration was not as popular as it is in today’s society. Women offenders were punished by male figures instead of going through the court system; usually by their fathers, husbands, guardians, or employers. Because men were recognized as the head of their house holds, they were expected to chastise anyone under their authority (wives, children, servants, or apprentices (Smith, 2012, p. 1695). In the correctional setting, history shows it was customary for women to assume occupational positions involving administration and clerical job duties; especially when working in a gender segregated facility. Mary Weed was the first woman to run a correctional facility in the United States... ... middle of paper ... ...rnal Of Criminal Justice, 3(2), 86. Finney, C., Stergiopoulos, E., Hensel, J., Bonato, S., & Dewa, C. S. (2013). Organizational stressors associated with job stress and burnout in correctional officers: a systematic review. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 1- 13. doi:10.1186/1471- 2458-13-82 Lambert, E. G., Paoline III, E. A., Hogan, N. L., & Baker, D. N. (2007). Gender Similarities and Differences in Correctional Staff Work Attitudes and Perceptions of the Work Environment. Western Criminology Review, 8(1), 16. Matthews, C. (2010). Promotional Opportunities: How Women in Corrections Perceive their Chances for Advancement at Work. Gender Issues, 27(1/2), 53. doi:10.1007/s12147-010-9089-5 Smith, B. V. (2012). Uncomfortable Places, Close Spaces: Female Correctional Workers' Sexual Interactions with Men and Boys in Custody. UCLA Law Review, 59(6), 1690-1745.
...they want to be not only respected but also being able to survive in the prison environment. In prison, there are so many inmates and not two inmates are the same. The inmates will disrespect the officers by calling them names, giving officers difficult times, but it goes the other way around too. It is disturbing image after learning that sometimes it is the officer’s fault and not just the inmates’ wrongdoings. There will be times when officers and inmates will engage in a conspiracy crime and times when the female staff is engaged in sexual actions with an inmate. Conover wrote this book to allow the audience to see the prison society from many different point-of-views and give future officers an early insight to becoming a correctional officer.
Across the country the ratio of male inmates to women is huge. According to “Criminal Justice a brief introduction” by Frank Schmalleger It states that the ratio that for every 15 male inmates there is only one female. But that doesn’t mean that the number of female inmates aren’t rapidly increasing. Even though there are similarities within both men and women’s prisons they are still in ways different.
In addition to extending social and political equality for women and the means to economic affluence for the poor (through education), a number of reforms also extended to various oppressed groups of freedom and justice. Abolitionists in the North sought to emancipate slaves in the cotton-cultivating South through the use of moral suasion as revealed by Patrick Reason’s engraving showing the deprivation of the Negro race in regards to their rights as humans, and later, political freedoms. The penitentiary movement began by Dorothea Dix reformed the nation’s prisons and insane asylums to improve the living conditions and treatment of criminals, paupers, and emotionally disturbed persons. Separate penitentiaries were later instituted for the reformation of juvenile delinquents. Instead of “confining without distinction the more and less vicious”, where the latter can learn “little but the ways of the wicked”, their separation will salvage the less vicious through “religious and moral instruction” and “render them valuable members of society”.
The correctional subculture is not described as extensively as the police subculture; however, many elements of misconduct and criminal activities are similar (Pollock, 2014). The parallelism of corruption between the police and correctional officer are as follows: (1) use of force; (2) acceptance of gratuities from inmates; (3) mistreatment/sexual coercion of inmates; and (4) abuse of authority for personal gains (Pollock, 2014). According to Pardue et al. (2011), there are two types of sexual coercion found within the prison subculture and they are as follows: (1) coercion between convicts; and (2) coercion between convicts and staff members (p. 289). The Department of Corrections is aware of staff sexual abuse and harassment of women prisoners, and they have been playing “catch up” to accommodate the challenges of this persisting problem (Clear et al., 2013, p.
“…regarded it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison” (Hawthorne). This quote from The Scarlet Letter is actually true. Prisons were among the first buildings built among colonization. The prisons were not for punishment- that was usually done publicly. Punishments fell into the four categories of fines, public shame, physical chastisement, and death. These prisons were usually just holding places for those awaiting trial or awaiting punishment. During the 18th century, there was a dramatic change in the look and function of prisons. With the industrial revolution came growing cities, capitalism, and crime. Americans began
A pivotal point in female corrections was the implementation of the Arbour Report (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). This report recommended that an all male emergency response team should not be the first response, also, male correctional staff cannot be present while a strip search in being conducted (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). This report shaped corrections and it makes the female offenders accounted for since their rights were infringed.
Looking beyond women's issues and questioning basic humanity, we find a deceptive, unstable yet somehow egotistical governmental department. With an organization like this in control, there is no hope of rehabilitation for the prisoners as was discovered throughout the inquiry performed on Correctional Services Canada.
Prior to the American Revolution, colonists living in America were rarely locked in jail for long periods of time, with crimes often resulting in a punishment of hanging, public whipping, confinement to stocks, or branding.1 Jails were used as a place to temporarily confine people awaiting trial or punishment. The conditions in these jails were horrible, as sexes, types of criminals, and ages were heterogeneously mixed. By the late 18th century, these punishments were no longer as effective, due to an increase in population size, mobility and migration, and the emergence of a distinct poor class.2 Reformers saw the need for change, and aided by an increased moral standard following the colonial era, prisons were targeted for reform, becoming pe...
The U.S is only 5% of the world’s population and houses a quarter of its prison inmates; well over 2 million people. In the past decade the war on drugs has filled many state and federal prisons with a numerous amount of inmates. Building new prisons is not the answer to tackling the prison overcrowding dilemma. The U.S doesn’t have the money due to economic strains, and it will not solve this issue head on as needed. “California may be forced to release up to 33,000 prisoners by 2013” (Shapiro & Wizner, 2011, p.1.). Some women and men do not belong in prison, and should be given other opportunities to sought help. Prison overcrowding is a growing concern in the U.S today. There are many different alternatives to end prison overcrowding versus releasing them into the community. For example by launching a parole support group or treatment or rehabilitation programs for inmates as well as ex-offenders, house arrest or probation are other routes to explore.
The main issue of this proposal that must be taken in consideration is that many critics argue that men become ignored by feminism and that the argument for non-custodial sentences is feminist exceptionalism at work (Reed, 2013). Many argue that attempting to keep only women out of prison could be seen as sexist towards men and not about equality. However, it is important that equality is understood as not about treating everyone the same, but about treating everyone in such a way that the outcome for both men and women can be the same (Corston, 2007). Consequently, catering to everyone’s individual needs and preventing them from a life of
This account of Mary Brown provides historians with insight into the social and legal practices of the 18th century. This case identifies the social unrest and anxiety regarding the popularity of theft, and in this case shoplifting. This case reiterates this units themes, including, the gendering of crime. London society believed shoplifter most often to be women. The Old Bailey records, reaffirm the notion of gendered crime, and that women were more often than men accused and convicted of shoplifting. However,
Women in Prison. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics Varnam, Steve. Our prisons are a crime (reforming the prison system). Editorial. Christianity Today 21 June 1993
The jobs of correctional officer are some times overlooked. Correctional officers are playing a huge role in society because they need to perform important tasks. A correctional officer’s job is not easy and can become very stressful at times. Correctional officers are required to enforce and keep order, supervise inmates, help counsel offenders, search inmate cells for contraband, and also report on inmate actions. Correctional officers need to contain power over the prisoners in order to enforce the rules of the prison, or else the prison will not function correctly. In the book, Conover says, “The essential relationship inside a prison is the one between a guard and an inmate…the guard, it is thought, wields all the power, but in truth the inmate has power too” (Conover, p. 207). In the book, the importance of power the prisoner’s hold can be seen through the sudden increase of prisoners, the Stanford Prison Experiment and through the contraband they make.
Erin G., 2010, A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women: The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. vi, 202, Vol. 8(2)175.
Discrimination against law enforcement and correctional officers based on gender has been a growing problem in the United States. Women are comprised of a small percentage of law enforcement around the nation. Though their work in the police force dates back to the 1800’s, it has only been noticed for a little over 40 years. Women are often troubled with being taken seriously as a crime fighter, or if a woman should even be allowed to become a law enforcement officer. They are usually viewed as too gentle, emotional, or weak. Over Ninety-five cases have been documented since 2000 of discrimination by sex. This is a rising problem in our country and if not corrected it could harm law enforcement as a whole.