Female Incarceration: A Deep Dive into Detroit's Problem

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The incarceration rate for women has increased tremendously. Since 2010, there have been more than 113,000 females incarcerated in both state and federal institutions (corrections). The YouTube video, “Most Disgusting Female Prison in the World,” is a documentary on Detroit repeat female offenders. These women are incarcerated in the Wayne County Jail known as Detroit’s lost hope for female offenders. These female offenders are incarcerated for prostitution, drugs, and other violent crimes such as robbery and assault. The documentary also states that these women had a troubled past and are hard to control. In the beginning of the documentary, there is a white female offender who states that she had been shot numerous times, stabbed, and kidnapped …show more content…

According to the article “Statistics on Women Offenders,” Leonard A Sipes Jr. stated that “6 out of 10 women in prison have experienced physical or sexual abuse in the past. Approximately 69 percent of these assaults occurred before the age of 18” (corrections). Statistics from 2013 show that over 37% of female offenders are raped before going to prison. In the documentary, one female offender in the “Women’s Wellness Program,” asks the other women in the group what made it okay for her stepfather to sexual molest her at the age of 11. She also stated every time she replayed the incident in her mind she becomes …show more content…

The documentary states that she will be released from jail soon despite her efforts to learn how to manage her anger and rage. Selena Newell was sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbery. She admitted that losing her youngest daughter just 5 days after she was incarcerated made her more angry and hateful. She also admitted to numerous other violent crimes such as, stabbing others with pencils, beating them with chairs, locks, and etc. On the other hand, Selena Newell seems to have a positive attitude about succeeding outside of prison. If the “Women’s Wellness Program is not successful and the women of Wayne County do not turn their lives around, they will be alone with no help when they are

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