Women in Prison

Women in Prison   1

Women in Prison
Carl Kimball
Critical Issues in Corrections
Mr. Clay

Women in Prison   2

The topic of this paper is women in prison.   I will be talking about the increasing population of women in prison.   I will also talk about how between 75%-80% of the women in prison are mothers.   I will discuss if pregnant women should be incarcerated.   I will wrap it up with talking about if mothers in prison should be allowed to keep their kids with them.

The female prison population is the fastest growing population in recent years.   In 2005, the women prisoners comprised 3 percent of the prison population.   In 2007, the percent of women in prison raised to just over 7 percent.   The rise of woman in prison has been attributed to numerous social changes, the increase in drug and substance abuse, and an increase in violent behavior in women.   The incarcerated women share the same characteristics as the males.   They both are primarily from lower socioeconomic status, lack education, no employment history, and are of minority status.   The female offenders are more likely to commit nonviolent offences, and are likely to have past relationships with their victims, and to commit the crimes in front of males or have males urging them on.  

The statistics show that between 75%-80% of women in prison are mothers.   There is a reportedly 66 percent of women in prison have children under the age of 18.   In 1980, the U.S passed the Federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, which mandated services primarily to promote the preservation of families.   The majority of them are the primary care provider for their children before they got incarcerated.   Many of the children are in foster care while their mother is incarcerated, and some live with relatives.   The children of incarcerated
Women in Prison   3

mothers are more likely to follow in their mothers footsteps and get incarcerated later on in their lives.   Many incarcerated mothers do...