NCJ Number
155364
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 75 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (June 1995) Pages: 131-272
Editor(s)
B Bloom,
R Immarigeon,
B Owen
Date Published
1995
Length
142 pages
Annotation
Seven articles consider various issues associated with the needs and services provided to women in prisons and jails.
Abstract
The first article critically examines prevailing penal ideology and emerging reform initiatives in Canada, specifically the findings of Canada's Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women (1990). This is followed by a report on findings from a larger study that profiles women inmates in California's rapidly expanding penal empire. In their review of national and State studies, the authors find a consensus that imprisoned women are usually marginalized women who share characteristics that are devalued by society. They conclude that community sanctions should be used more extensively for women, who are mostly drug offenders, to address the conditions of their marginality. The third article presents an overview of issues associated with drug treatment for women, including estimates of need and delivery by providers. The program needs of female inmates in five jail facilities in various regions of the United States are examined in another article, followed by an article that presents research on the "new generation" practice of equal treatment regardless of gender and its outcomes for women. The other three articles address child custody issues of women inmates, assess services for substance-abusing women who reside in community and correctional settings, and present a prison superintendent's perspective on women in prison. Notes and references accompany each article.