Assessing the Needs of Women Recently Released From Prison

The growing number of females incarcerated in the United States suggests that greater importance needs to be placed on preparing practitioners and communities for their eventual release from prison. Female offenders present a unique set of needs, including greater mental health, substance abuse, and medical health problems than their male counterparts. Furthermore, women may possess unique needs at various points of their involvement with the criminal justice system (i.e., before, during, and following a period of incarceration). The current study examines the needs of female offenders while they are reentering the community from the perspective of community service providers who work directly with recently incarcerated women. Survey results reveal that community service providers identify needs in 7 domains. Prevalence and urgency measures provide unique profiles of the needs of female offenders, and respondent reports of the effectiveness of the existing community-based service sector lead to numerous implications and suggestions for future research.     

Serious about Change: A Gendered Examination of the Impact of Offense Type on Parole Success

Female offender populations are growing at an unprecedented rate. The present study examines gender differences among a large sample of male and female offenders as related to seriousness of their offense and success on parole. Data analyzed were originally collected from a random sample of parole case files in California. Results revealed that although gender does significantly impact parole success, seriousness of the offense does not. Other significant factors include age at release on parole, criminal history, and measures of stability upon release. The need for wrap-around services, comprehensive treatment models, and funding for gender-specific services are discussed.     

Lilith in Myth,Melodrama, and Criminology

Abstract

This article illustrates how the social construction of both knowledge and popular culture has been influenced by mythic images of “fair and virginal” good women and “dark and sensual” evil women-what is commonly called the madonna/whore duality. The article examines the myth of Lilith, first wife of Adam, and the images of good and evil women that we can distill from creation myths. We then demonstrate how these images of good and evil women are illustrated in early twentieth century criminology and the 1920s melodrama Lilith.     

Rita James Simon

Abstract

From her early days in Brooklyn, New York to her overflowing office at American University in Washington, DC, this paper traces the remarkable life of Professor Rita J. Simon. Rita Simon is considered one of the most accomplished, prolific, and respected sociologists today. She has authored twenty-six books, edited fourteen, and written over 230 articles on topics such as the jury system, immigration, public opinion, transracial adoption, and women and crime. Her scholarly contributions to the subject of women and crime have aided in our understanding of female criminal behavior, the types of crimes women commit, and the punishments they receive. Further, as the President of the Women's Freedom Network, she has worked toward celebrating and highlighting the achievements of women, but has steadfastly maintained that women do not need special protections or different standards of excellences philosophy that personifies Rita's life. In this biographical essay, the author outlines the early years, academic career, professional activities and recognitions, and offers a personal look into the life of Rita James Simon. It is based on interviews with her children, as well as the author's experience with Rita as her professor, mentor, co-author, and friend.     

Patrilines,surnames, and family identity:

The Imperial decrees emancipating the serfs of the Russian Baltic provinces (1816–1820) included the requirement that serfs, who would now become free peasants and obtain legal standing, have both a first name and a surname, the latter of their own choosing. The article examines the process through which Baltic peasants obtained surnames and analyzes the choices they made. In the Pinkenhof estate, in the province of Livland, emancipated serfs most often chose surnames that reflected their place of residence, but also frequently chose names from the natural world, occupations, and other similar sources. The acquisition of surnames helped to consolidate family and lineage identity, which had been difficult in the pre-emancipation perion when individuals bore only a first name plus the name of the place in which they were currently residing, the latter changing as they moved.     

Dynamism and Enterprise

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to see how Asian female entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom have developed and to increase our understanding of this entrepreneurial minority. The study looks at some of the more successful Asian women who are prominent in the United Kingdom by being featured in the top 200 Asian rich list. Both primary and secondary sources were used to profile these women. Open ended face-to-face interviews were also conducted with Asian women from second/third generations who had some business ownership stake in the more traditional low value added, labour intensive businesses. Questions centred around why they started their business, the support they received, the challenges facing them specifically as Asian women in business both at start up and beyond, their aspirations for the future of the business and their motivations.

The findings show that the gap appears to have widened between the more successful Asian business woman and those women who are still opting for low value added, labour intensive firms. The practical implications of this study are that Asian women are an increasingly important part of the SME group and thus increasing the quality of business provision, advice, start up and growth would make this vital sector even more productive. This study will also help sensitise and inform business support agents, banks, advisors both public sector and private. Understanding the needs of this entrepreneurial minority is important for academic, policy makers and support professionals.     

Cultural Beliefs,Human Rights Violations,and Female Genital Cutting

ABSTRACT

Female genital cutting (FGC) or as it is sometimes erroneously called, female circumcision, has been performed on over 173 million girls worldwide. Yearly, there are at least 2–3 million girls who experience this procedure. The physical, psychological and long-term health-care effects are only recently being recognized. Health care practitioners and social workers need to understand and address the complex and multi-dynamic cultural issues as well as the healthcare dilemmas for these women. Community networking, education, assistance in accessing the medical system, and reducing language barriers are interventions that should be delivered with cultural sensitivity and an understanding of the long term outcomes on health.     

Through the looking-glass: Exploring the wonderland of ‘other’ female portrayals in advertising

Abstract

Research on gender portrayals in advertising are prolific and mostly focus on stereotypical roles. However, there is no previous research report analysing portrayals that fall into the ‘other’ category of female roles. This article aims to provide an outline of female role portrayals in advertising and, importantly, to examine the ‘other’ role category for new portrayals. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on samples of South African magazine and television advertisements. The findings indicate that the stereotypical decorative role was prevalent in magazine advertisements, while in television advertisements the product user was the person most often featured. A detailed analysis of the ‘other’ category in both media revealed four new role portrayals. These roles represent a different view of the modern woman and may be used to differentiate effectively those brands in the media that are cluttered with advertising messages. The research provides directions for future content-analytic studies on the topic of female portrayals in advertising.     

Social Structure and Citizenship: Examining the Impacts of Social Setting,Network Heterogeneity,and Informational Variables on Political Participation

In this study, we develop a model of the interplay between sociostructural determinants of an individual's discussion behavior, such as the setting of primary discussion networks (work, church, and volunteer groups) and the nature of discussion (i.e., level of exposure to non-like-minded ideas), and individual-level outcomes, such as hard news media use, political knowledge, and participation in political processes. In doing so, we synthesize many of the different and sometimes competing models that political communication scholars have used to examine the link between more macroscopic sociological variables and the individual-level behaviors that political scientists often focus on. Data to test our theoretical model come from a national telephone survey conducted in October and November 2002. Our analysis showed that the social setting in which citizens discuss politics is an important antecedent of political participation. Discussion networks as part of volunteer groups, for example, indeed serve as important networks of recruitment. In other words, discussing politics frequently in this setting is positively and directly linked to political activity. The impact of conversational networks in church and work settings on participation, however, is only indirect. In fact, our data show that the impact of church and work networks on political participation is to a significant degree mediated by the different viewpoints that individuals are exposed to when they discuss politics in these settings.     

女生就业的比较与分析——法学专业女大学生就业情况的调查

为把握了解当前法学专业女大学生的就业现状,分析女大学生“就业难”的主要原因,研究分析并提出相关对策建议,我们对某高校女大学生就业情况进行问卷调查。调查中我们发现女大学生就业形势的确不容乐观,女生就业面临的最大困难就是性别歧视;政府部门、用人单位与学校应采用积极的改进措施。