Restrained Voices

Abstract

This research presents the voices of women inmates on health care services in prisons. Foucault's discourse analysis as a means of bringing to the surface restrained voices provides the theoretical basis for this study. The research is based on face-to-face interviews of fifty-six women inmates to understand better the role gender plays in prison health care delivery. The results show that women are willing to discuss only physical ailments and are reluctant to speak about mental health care or HIV. While women benefit from health care services in prison, they still feel that a female-oriented approach to health care in general will improve the services tremendously. This approach is not dictated by the “difference” in the ailments between men and women, but by the “difference” in the way men and women encounter health care providers and illnesses.     

Sex Matters

Abstract

Male and female inmates have different profiles and needs, and adapt to prison in different ways. When policy is made and implemented, however, the male model of imprisonment sets the standard. This article argues that courts and prison administrators should consider the differences between men and women in prison, particularly in the context of cross-gender searches, which brings those differences to the fore. The case of Jordan v. Gardner, in which the court recognized women inmates' specific histories of abuse in evaluating the potential psychological harm of cross-gender searches, is presented as an exemplary use of a gender-specific standard. It is recommended that a gender-specific standard be used by both courts and prison administrators in order to measure more appropriately and accurately the impact of cross-gender searches on women inmates.     

HMP/YOI Holloway: a lament but also a call to arms

Abstract

London’s oldest women’s prison is to close in 2016. The unexpected speed of the UK Government’s closure plans and the lack of alternatives for London women are a cause for concern but also an opportunity. Ironically, this announcement came at a time when both the prison and its health care were evaluated as better than ever before. Staff constitute a vital source of knowledge and expertise. Good care for women who offend relies on these ingredients. Learning from the last decade should be salvaged and further developed.     

Assessing the Behavior and Needs of Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury in Washington State Prisons: Establishing a Foundation for Policy,Practice, and Education

Abstract

A growing awareness of justice-involved veterans is revealing how little is known about this population, to what extent they have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and how this may relate to institutional behavior, participation in programs, and use of institutional resources. The current study identifies the prevalence of incarcerated veterans in Washington State who have experienced a TBI and how a TBI history may affect their prison experience and use of prison resources. The results of our study show that incarcerated veterans in Washington State with a moderate-to-severe TBI are more likely to use medical services, commit violent infractions, be placed in maximum custody (solitary confinement), and less likely to complete vocational and job skills programs. The importance of these findings to policy and practice is discussed.     

Gang activity in English prisons: The prisoners’ perspective

Abstract

Gang activity in American prisons has resulted in serious problems for prisoners and staff. This study assessed prisoners’ perceptions of gang-event frequency in the UK. Interviews with 360 prisoners from nine prisons in England and Wales indicated gang-related events were perceived as more frequent in all male categories of prison than they were in female institutions. Prisoners reported drug possession and prisoner groups being formed along regional origins as the most frequent gang-related activities. Recidivists perceived higher levels of gang-related activity than did first-time prisoners. Gang-related variables also predicted prisoners’ perceptions that groups of prisoners have more control over events in the prison than do staff and that order in the prison may not be maintained. The merits of interviewing prisoners and the implications of the results for maintaining order in prison are discussed.     

Fatal attraction: An analysis of employee boundary violations in a southern prison system, 1995–1998

Prison employees are trained to maintain their distance from prisoners and to do their job professionally without personal entanglements or abuse of prisoners in any way. Efforts are made to ensure that those who enter the correctional service serve honorably; these efforts, however, do not prevent some prison employees from ending their careers in disgrace. Some employees engage in career-ending infractions whereby they are suspended and/or reprimanded; some are terminated for engaging in inappropriate relationships (or boundary violations) with inmates. This paper examines boundary violations among 508 Texas state prison security staff members disciplined between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1998.     

Little Women

Abstract

Despite the growing trend of waiving youth to adult/criminal court, little is known about how convicted youth experience adult prison. To date, no research has been published about girls in adult prisons. In this study, intensive interviews were conducted with 22 girls serving time in a women's prison in the Midwest, as well as four staff working in the girls ' unit. The findings describe the complex lives of girls housed in an adult women's prison, in particular, their difficulties in gaining access to adequate schooling, work training, counseling, and health care. We also address the girls' contact with adult women prisoners, as well as their relationships with staff at the prison. Beyond improving their conditions of confinement, our research highlights the need to consider the appropriateness of placing girls in adult institutions.     

Female Inmates' Perspectives on Sexual Abuse by Correctional Personnel

Abstract

Research into the sexual abuse of female inmates by correctional workers is scarce, despite documentation of its occurrence in prisons across the United States. This exploratory study examined dimensions of staff-inmate sexual contact in a correctional facility in Hawaii through two focus group interviews with imprisoned women. The women described three types of sexual abuse in prison: “trading,” “love,” and “in the line of duty.” Findings include the women's account of these forms of abuse and their perceptions of responsibility for staff-inmate sexual contact in correctional institutions. The women's beliefs about factors contributing to sexual abuse of female inmates, including job expectations of and power issues among adult correctional officers (ACO's), and the consequences of reporting abuse are also discussed. Given the vulnerability of female inmates and the power dynamics that typify the prison context, further research on this problem is warranted.     

Female prisoners' understanding of ‘bullying’ and their methods of coping: a multinational perspective

Abstract

Whilst prison bullying is a well-researched form of aggressive behaviour, recent studies have suggested that there may be discrepancy between how prisoners and researchers understand the term ‘bullying’. Interviews with 26 female prisoners were subject to constant comparison framework analysis. More than 150 themes were identified. These suggested that whilst there is overall agreement between prisoners and researchers as to what behaviours constitute bullying, a consensus does not exist within the prisoner population. Behaviours identified as bullying behaviours by prisoners are also reported as methods of coping. Cultural differences in behaviour and how these relate to perceptions of aggression were identified by the women prisoners. The findings of this study have implications for researching bullying in institutions such as prisons, and for managing and intervening with bullies in prisons.     

Freedom to think – the value of multiple clinical narratives in women’s prisons†

Abstract

The merits of being multi-lingual are widely recognised. This paper considers the application of this metaphor to the conceptualisation of clinical work in a women’s prison. We suggest that sharing ‘languages’ from different theoretical orientations in open fora enables teams to build deep and nuanced understandings of clinical and systemic complexity, of particular value in secure settings. This discussion reflects the service model developed and used within HMP/YOI Holloway, a large women’s prison in London, which has recently been closed. We utilise a case example, with formulations and recommendations from several perspectives, to illustrate the value of maintaining a rich, inclusive discourse. We describe the benefits of such an approach to staff teams, to institutions and to those we serve, and consider the implications for organisation of services to maximise potential for change and recovery.     

Mother–infant separations in prison. A systematic attachment-focused policy review

Abstract

Mothers in prison separated from their young children are an overlooked group. Attachment theory could provide a useful model to underpin interventions and better support women affected by separation from their infants. Current policy draws on a limited body of evidence and research has developed considerably since its first design. This review systematically searched all relevant UK prison policy and government documents with regards to mother and child separation in prison and analysed the extent to which these documents draw on attachment theory. Following initial searches, 58 documents were thematically analysed. Attachment was implicitly referred to in most documents but only explicitly mentioned in four. Global themes identified included ‘separation as trauma’. However, document groups varied in focusing either on the mother or the child and there were no joint perspectives. Developing and researching specific attachment-informed interventions might be one way forward as would further attachment-based research in this area.     

Specifying the Relationship Between Crime and Prisons

There is no scholarly consensus as to the proper functional form of the crime equation, particularly with regard to one critical, explanatory variable—prison population. The critical questions are whether crime and prison rates must be differenced, whether they are cointegrated, and whether they are simultaneously determined—whether crime and prison cause one another. To determine the proper specification, different researchers have applied unit-root, cointegration, and Granger tests to very similar data sets and obtained very different results. This has led to very different specifications and predictably different implications for public policy. These differences are more likely to be due to the methods used, rather than to real differences among the data sets. When the best available methods are used to identify the proper specification for a panel of U.S. states, results are fairly clear. Crime rates and prison populations are close to unit-root; crime and prison are not cointegrated; crime clearly affects subsequent prison populations. Thus the best specification of the crime equation must rely on differenced data and instrumental variables. Alternative specifications run a substantial risk of spurious results.

Women Prisoners at the Dawn of the 21st Century

Abstract

The contemporary experiences of women in prison at the beginning of the 21st century must be understood within the context of the monumental increase in incarceration of specific U.S. populations in the last three decades of the 20th century, a truly unique period in history. How race and class impact on the increase of women in U.S. prisons attests to the importance of an intersectional and structural analysis (of race, class, and gender) in explaining the huge number of poor, heavily Black and Latina women incarcerated today. Women are criminalized for the same kinds of crimes today as in the past (nonviolent larceny-theft, forgery, and prostitution)-with the critical addition of drugs (and the “net widening” of previously noncriminal or nonviolent behaviors). And with drugs, the racialized impacts are even more profound. The socially structured conditions of class, race, and gender in the context of globalization, unemployment, and the prison industrial complex help to explain these findings.     

Management Strategies When Working with Female Prisoners

Abstract

Scholars and practitioners have noted the potential for using understanding and language about the unique needs of women offenders to justify special controls over them in the prison setting. Using data from a national study of innovative management and programming strategies among correctional administrators, the present research examines management approaches needed for women, with a focus on the degree to which some administrators use stereotypes and/or perceived needs of women offenders in their rationale for choosing particular management strategies. Approximately 80 percent of the respondents reported that there is a need to use different management techniques for male and female prisoners. About half of these respondents noted that these differing management techniques are related to interpersonal skills and communication followed by programming needs and differences in general needs.     

Female homicide offenders: Trends over time in an institutionalized population

The records of 460 female homicide offenders, admitted to a state prison for women between 1940–66 and 1981–83, were examined to determine changes in the character of the offender and the criminal event itself. While there were several respects in which the contemporary murderess differs from her predecessor, overall the data have questioned the extent to which changing roles for women have influenced the character of female homicide over time. Whatever influence the women's movement might have had on middle- and upper-class women, the contemporary murderess seems as far from liberation as her sisters in the '40s, '50s, and '60s.     

Family violence and depressive symptomatology among incarcerated women

This study examines the potential association between witnessing parental violence as a child and later adult depressive symptomatology within a population that has received limited attention in the scientific literature, namely, incarcerated women. The Conflict Tactics Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were administered to 60 women incarcerated in a maximum security prison in North Carolina. A majority of the women reported that they had witnessed verbally aggressive or physically violent interactions among the adult members in their families. Seventy percent of these women suffered from clinically relevant levels of depressive symptomatology. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that increasing levels of reasoning conflict resolution strategies used in the women's families of origin were associated with decreasing levels of depressive symptomatology of the women, whereas increasing levels of physically violent conflict resolution strategies were associated with increasing levels of depressive symptomatology.     

Prison behavior and the victim-offender relationship among violent offenders

This research explores the role of the victim-offender relationship of prison inmates' commitment crimes in predicting violent offenders' behavior problems. The importance of the victim-offender relationship is supported by anecdotal accounts and theoretical reasoning which suggest that nonstranger offenders have fewer disciplinary problems in prison than stranger offenders. Inmate interviews and official data were collected from 273 violent offenders. Results suggest that inmates with more extensive rule-breaking behaviors are likely to be younger, less intelligent individuals who victimize strangers, have had more numerous juvenile convictions, and have served at least one prior prison term. Conclusions and implications for public policy are discussed.     

Recidivism Among People Sentenced to Community Service in Finland

The influence of community service on recidivism is studied by comparing the subsequent recidivism of people sentenced to community service with the recidivism of people sentenced to prison for a maximum of 8 months. The distributon of sex, age, principal offence, times in prison and length of sentence in the prison group was analogous to that of the community service group. The follow-up period was 5 years. The analysis shows, compared to recidivism after prison sentences, was slightly lower. In the light of this, community service seems to be a suitable sanction in particular for sentenced people lacking previous prison experience.     

Surrendering Solidarity

Abstract

Previous literature on women working in corrections suggests that male coworkers, supervisors, and inmates are hostile and resistant toward female correctional officers (COs). Although this research provides insight into the female CO position, these studies only contemplate the influence of male coworkers, supervisors, and inmates. Little research takes into account the impact that other women working in corrections have on the female CO position. This paper considers this missing link through two research questions. First, “How do female COs view other women in corrections?” and second, “In what ways do these viewpoints influence the female CO position?” Twelve in-depth interviews conducted with female COs are utilized to answer these questions. Results indicate that participants viewed other women in corrections negatively. These viewpoints influenced the female CO position by furthering the “ultra-masculine” nature of the prison that rewards masculinity and discourages femininity.