Incarcerated Female Offender: An Inappropriate Use of Prison Confinement

• NCJ Number: 134099
• Journal: Odyssey Dated: (Fall 1991) Pages: 26-32
• Author(s): D P Leclair
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: A first draft of this paper was presented at the 1989 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Washington, D.C., March 29, 1989.

Annotation

For the adult female offender, a policy of non-imprisonment may be both feasible and appropriate.

Abstract

The inmate database of the Massachusetts Department of Correction was utilized as the female population necessary for the application of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency criteria. This data was used to determine the suitability of the Massachusetts population for a prison diversion policy. Statistics reveal that women actually serve significantly shorter periods of imprisonment than males, escape from prisons at a lower frequency, and have shorter criminal histories. Yet they are paroled at a lower rate, participate in home furlough programming at a lower level, and recidivate at at higher rate than their male counterparts. Clearly the length of stay, escape histories, and criminal history variables support the hypothesis that women are sentenced for less serious offenses and are therefore less dangerous. 4 tables