Given that our society is still highly male supremacist, it is logical that prisons would reflect on this social dynamic. In fact, because prisons and the criminal prosecution system are so carefully removed from the scrutiny of prisoners' supportive communities and advocates, blatant sexism and victimization often go unchecked. Two comprehensive and incisive works called Unruly Women: The politics of Confinement and Resistance by Karlene Faith (Vancouver: Press Gang 1993) and Mass Murderers in White Coats: Psychiatric Genocide in Nazi Germany and the United States by Lenny Lapon (Springfield: Commonwealth/ PGRI 1986) are two excellent sources that cover the topic of women in prison.

Women are a very small proportion of the overall U.S. prison population, at approximately five percent. At the end of 1988, there were 32,691 women in state and federal prisons. Although imprisonment rates for women are low, they are rising quickly, after having remained more or less constant for the past fifty years. According to government statistics, the number of women prisoners has prison from 13,420 in just eight years, a 244 percent increase, as compared to an increase of 188 percent for men during the same period. The rate for women has grown faster than that for men each year since 1981. During 1987 alone, there was a 9.3 percent increase in the rate of imprisonment for women while the figure for men rose 6.6 percent. In New York City jails, the rate for women rose a total of thirty-three percent in the last year alone, more than twice the rate of men. Some say there has been a jump in violent crime by women because of the women's movement and the associated empowerment of women. There is no evidence however, to support either the allegation that female violent crimes have increased, or that equality leads to more violent crime by women. In fact, violent crimes by women have remained constant or, in some cases, have actually declined. For instance, a comparison of female crime rates between 1977 and 1987 shows that violent personal crimes actually declined while alcohol and drug related crimes tripled. Why the rates are rising more quickly for women remains an unanswered question. It is possible that deteriorating conditions are now pushing women to the brink faster than men; as the primary caretakers of children, women may be driven by poverty to engage in more "crimes" of survival. Changes in sentencing laws an practices, such as mandatory minimum sentencing, are commonly referred to as a main factor in rising imprisonment rates for women. Many commentators have indicated that judges are less hesitant than ever to send women to prison. Offenses which used to get probation are now drawing prison time and sentences are more severe. Some observers state that if there was ever a shred of "chivalry" in the white male criminal justice system, that it is no longer true today. For instance, and administrator of a Texas women's prison was quoted as stating that "Chivalry is dead. It's equal rights, dog eat dog, no women are at home with an apron on anymore." Well, whatever the reason, it seems certain that women are being treated more punitively than in the past by the criminal justice system.

The profile of women in prison has emerged from study after study. These findings have concluded that women in prison usually fit the profile of a young single mother with few marketable job skills, a high school drop-out who lives below the poverty level. Seventy- five percent are between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four, are mothers of dependent children, and were unemployed at the time of arrest. Many left home early and have experienced sexual and physical abuse. Ninety percent have a drug or alcohol-related history. Another significant factor is the race of incarcerated women. In 1982 the population of women's prisons was 50 percent black, although blacks comprised only 11 percent of the total population in this country; 9 percent Hispanic, and 3 percent Native American.

The African-American women are eight times more likely than white women to go to prison. Even though a greater proportion of white women are arrested, a smaller proportion are incarcerated. A 1985 Michigan study reported that 10.5 percent of all arrests were those of white women, while non-white women accounted for 6.1 percent of all arrests. On the other hand, Euroamerican women were 1.8 percent of those incarcerated while women of color were 4.5 percent. It is not clear what other factors are involved, such as the distribution of arrestable offenses or the role of prosecutors discretion. What seems certain though is that there is a different set of dynamics at work for white and non-white women. Karl Rassmussen, who is Executive Director of the Women's Prison Association of New York said, " 150 years ago it was poor whites, their names often IrishNand alcohol abuse. Today, it's poor minorities and drug abuse.

Many studies have indicated that women of color, black women in particular, are, when compared with white women, over-arrested, overindicted, under-defended and over- sentenced. African-American women are seven times more likely to be arrested for prostitution than women of other ethnic groups. A California study showed that white women drug violators represent the primary group arrested for this offense (65.1 percent) but are far less likely to be imprisoned (39.4 percent) than any minority female group. Over a sixteen year period, black women incarcerated in Missouri received much longer sentences for crimes against property, and served longer periods in prison. White women were generally given much longer sentences for crimes against persons, in fact almost double those of black women. However, actual time served for Afroamerican women was longer. For both murder and drug offenses, Euroamerican women ended up serving one- third less time for the same offenses. The study concluded that "differential treatment is definitely accorded to female offenders by race.

Assata Shakur, who was once an imprisoned leader of the Black Liberation Army and was liberated from a New Jersey prison in 1979 gave us his description about women in prison. "There are no criminals here at Riker's Island Correctional Institution for Women (New York), only victims. Most of the women (over 95 percent) are black and Puerto Rican. Many were abused children. Most have been abused by men and all have been abused by "the system". There are no big time gangsters here, no premeditated mass murderers, no god mothers. There are no big time dope dealers, no kidnappers, no Watergate women. There are virtually no women here charged with white collar crimes like embezzling and fraud. Most of the women have drug related cases. Many are charged as accessories to crimes committed by men. The major crimes that women here are charged with are prostitution, pickpocketing, shop lifting, robbery and drugs. Women who have prostitution cases or who are doing 'fine' time make up a substantial part of the short term population. The women see stealing or hustling as necessary for the survival of themselves or their children because jobs are scarce and welfare is impossible to live on."

As Shakur paints the picture, women's offenses are rarely vicious, dangerous, or profitable. Their crimes arise from difficult circumstances within society at large. Most women are in prison for relatively minor offenses; property crimes, sometimes referred to as poverty crimes, are the most frequent. According to 1983 Bureau of Justice statistics, forty-three percent of women were in for larceny, fraud, or forgery as compared with fifteen percent of men. Also, women are less likely to be imprisoned for violent offenses; thirty-five percent of the men were in for violent crimes as compared with twenty-four percent of the women. In general, women are less likely to be involved in homicide than are men. For the years 1980-1984, women were found guilty of only fourteen percent of all homicides.

Another important factor is that when women do engage in violent crime, it is often a fundamentally different sort of act. Women are much more likely to kill a male partner than to kill anyone else. Men are much more likely to perpetrate homicides against individuals outside the partner relationship, although the rate of male-perpetrated homicide against intimate partners is still nearly double the rate for female perpetrated homicides of male partners. Women are much more likely to kill in self-defense in response to their male partners' physical aggression and threats, and the recidivism rates for such crimes are extraordinarily low. That is, it is unlikely for a woman to repeat a homicide. This "female use of lethal counter-force" has been documented in numerous studies. Other authors point out that besides the provocation that immediately triggers the female homicide and is recognized by the court of law, female homicide is often in response to preceding years of male abuse.

According to Shelley Bannister, over one-third of all women have been or will be abused as children by males within and outside of their families. Annually, over two million women are battered by male partners. Although no one knows exactly how many women are in prison for killing an abusing husband or boyfriend, Charles Patrick Ewing, a psychologist and attorney, believes that as many as a thousand women a year are convicted for such acts. He states that "This small but increasingly visible minority of battered women are in many cases doubly victimized: once by the men who have battered them and again by a system of criminal justice which holds them to an unrealistic standard of accountability." Also, Angela Brown, a Denver social psychologist who conducted research in this area, sais that "women often face harsher penalties than men who kill their partners." In the early 1970s, when there was an activist women's movement, several strong campaigns were waged regarding individual cases in which women physically defended themselves and their children against attack. Yvonne Wanrow, a Colville Indian, was convicted by an all white jury for the self-defense killing of a man who molested her nine year old son as well as several other children. Inez Garcia struck back against the men who raped her and threatened her life, while the judge insisted that the allegations of rape were not even an issue in the case. Dessi Woods was found guilty of murder and robbery of a white insurance agent who tried to rape her and a friend. The influence of feminist thinking and agitation can be seen today. Bannister argues in a current criminal justice journal that "women who kill or attempt to kill their abusers are incarcerated for several reasons: 1) to deter other women from believing that they can similarly resist; 2) to reinforce in women the belief that they have no right to their own bodies' integrity and no right to defend against or resist male attack; and 3) to protect and assert men's power over women." Even the Govenor of Ohio felt that to pardon thirty-five women who had been imprisoned as a result of violence towards husbands and other men who had abused them.

Women are confined in a system designed, built and run by men for men, according to a fall 1990 issue of Time magazine. Prison authorities say that because the numbers of women have been so low, there are no, "economies of scale" in meeting women's needs, particularly their special need. Therefore women suffer accordingly, they say. There are a wide range of institutions that incarcerate women and the conditions vary. Some women's prisons look like small college campuses which may remind one of the historical legacy of the reformatory movement. Bedford Hills state prison in New York and Alderson Federal Prison in West Virginia are two such institutions. Appearances, however, are deceptive. For instance, Dobash describes the "underlying atmosphere of such a prison is one of intense hostility , frustration and anger.

Many institutions have no pretenses and are notoriously overcrowded and inadequate. The California Institution for Women at Frontera houses twenty-five hundred women in a facility built for 1,011. Overcrowding sometimes means that women who are being held for trivial offenses are incarcerated in maximum security institutions for lack of other facilities. Women's prisons are often particularly ill-equipped and poorly financed. They have fewer medical, educational and vocational facilities than men's prisons. Medical treatment is often available, innappropriate, and inconsistant. Job traing is also largely unavailable but when opportunities exist, they are usually traditional female occupations. Courses concentrate on homemaking and low-paid skills like beautician and launderer. Other barriers exist as well. In an Alabama women's prison there is a cosmetology program but those convicted of felonies are prohibited by law from obtaing such licenses.

In most prisons, guards have total authority, and the women can never take care of their basic intimate needs in a secure atmosphere free from intrusion. In the name of security, male guards can take down or look over a curtain, walk into a bathroom, or observe women showering or changing her clothes. In Michingal there are male guards employed at all women's prisons. At Huron Valley, about half the guards are men. At Crane prison, approximately eighty percent of the staff is male and there are open dormitories divided into cubicles. In one section the cubicle walls are only four feet high and there are no doors or curtains on any cubicles anywhere at Crane. The officers' desks are right next to the bathroom and the bathroom doors must be left open at all times. Male guards are also allowed to do body shakedowns where they run their hands all over the women's bodies.

Incarceration has serious and particular ramifications for women. Eighty percent of women entering state prisons are mothers. By contrast sixty percent of men in state prisons are fathers and less than half of them have custodial responsibility. These mothers have to undergo the intense pain of forced separation from their children. They are often the sole caretakers of their children and were the primary source of financial and emotional support. Their children are twice as likely to end up in foster care than the children of male prisoners. Whereas when a man goes to prison, his wife or lover most often assumes or continues to assume responsibility for the children, the reverse is not true. Women often have no one else to turn to and are in danger of permanently losing custody of their children. For all imprisoned mothers the separation from their children is one of the greatest punishments of incarceration, and engenders despondency, feelings of guilt and anxiety about their children's welfare.

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• good article on women in prison !!!
  

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