Management Strategies When Working with Female Prisoners

• NCJ Number: 204360
• Journal: Women & Criminal Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 25-50
• Author(s): Pamela J. Schram; Barbara A. Koons-Witt; Merry Morash
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 26 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study drew on national survey data to explore how the use of stereotyping about women’s needs impacts management strategies at women’s correctional institutions.

Abstract

As the number of women in prison has skyrocketed over the past two decades, practitioners, scholars, and activist have scrambled to determine the best methods of serving women inmates. This includes identifying how female inmates’ needs differ from the needs of male inmates. One problem with espousing different correctional needs for men and women is that administrators may base management strategies on historical stereotypes of women as passive, overly emotional, and childlike, among other things. In an effort to examine the degree to which administrators rely on stereotypes to justify particular management strategies in female correctional facilities, the authors conducted a secondary analysis of data from a survey of 96 correctional administrators, 56 percent of whom worked in women’s prisons. The original purpose of the survey was to probe innovative management and programming strategies among correctional administrators. Eighty-three percent of the respondents stated that incarcerated men and women need different management approaches; 50 percent of these respondents said the reason that different management strategies are needed for men and women are because the two sexes have different interpersonal and communication skills. Another 20 percent of the respondents who agreed that women require different management strategies justified the differences based on programming needs, while another 10 percent of these respondents simply stated that men and women have different general needs. The results did not uncover much direct evidence of stereotypes at work in regards to management strategies. The results did indicate a pervasive emphasis on controlling women through communication techniques shown to be more effective with women, such as interpersonal strategies. The authors advise that correctional personnel receive education and training on gender differences in order to avoid the potential for stereotyped information to guide management strategies and programming. Tables, notes, references