The Female Inmate

What are the characteristics of incarcerated women? Like their male counter­parts, female inmates are young (about two-thirds are under thirty-four years old). minority-group members (more than 60 percent), unmarried (80 percent), under-educated (about 40 percent were not high school graduates), and underemployed. The family life of incarcerated women also appears troubled. Significant num­bers were "at-risk" children, products of "broken homes" and the welfare system; over half had received welfare sometime during their adult lives. They experienced a pattern of harsh discipline and physical abuse. More than 40 percent claim to have been physically and/or sexually abused sometime in their life. This pattern continued in their adult life: many female inmates had been both the victim and perpetrator of domestic violence. Many have lost self-respect and hide their pain in substance abuse and involvement with deviant peers.

A serious problem of women in prison is the disruption of their families. More than two-thirds of the women in prison had children; of these, 80 percent were liv­ing with their children before arrest. One in every four female inmates is pregnant at intake or has given birth at some time during the previous year. Who takes care of the children while their mothers are incarcerated? Children of incarcerated women apparently are not bound over to foster parents. Some 90 percent are placed with their father, grandparent, other relative, or family friend. About 10 percent wind up in foster homes or state agencies. Prisons must be able to deal with the needs of inmate mothers, providing services ranging from birthing care to adequate facilities so that mothers can care for infant children.

A significant number of female inmates report having substance abuse prob­lems. An estimated 70 percent of the women in state prisons had used drugs at some time in their lives, with 50 percent or more reporting using major drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, or PCP. There was little difference in major drug use among male and female offenders when measured over the lifespan or at the time of their current arrest. More than 20 percent of female inmates report being on a major drug at the time of their arrest (compared to 18 percent of the men).

The picture that emerges of the female inmate is troubling. After a lifetime of emotional turmoil, physical and sexual abuse, and drug use, it seems improbable that overcrowded, underfunded correctional institutions can forge a dramatic turnaround in the behavior of the "at-risk" female populations.

Text 8. Read the text and answer the following questions:

1. What are the main categories of inmates?

2. Where are long-term prisoners usually held?

3. What is the purpose of reformatories?

4. What are open prisons?

5. What is the status of “unconvicted prisoners”?

6. What are their privileges?

7. What special programmes are established for women prisoners?

8. What additional rights do women prisoners have?

9. What are the most typical crimes committed by recidivists?

10. What is the severest penalty for the most atrocious crimes?

11. What kinds of “lifers” are sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment?

12. How is life sentence typically reduced in Britain?

13. How are “lifers” supervised when released?