Gordon Graham
Category: Corrections

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. And Today’s Tip deals with women in jail.

Correctional policies and procedures have been developed over the years based largely upon experience with the male jail population, sometimes ignoring the female gender altogether.

So here’s a thought for you. Women are different than men. I know, “thank you Captain Obvious.” Well today we’re specifically talking about the differences in incarcerations.

Nationwide, there are about 90,000 women in local jails, yet they only represent approximately 10% of the total jail population.

I’m going to give you a few generalizations here that are backed up by the data. First, women are generally incarcerated for non-violent crimes when compared to the male jail population. Violence and aggression by women in jail is also occurs less frequently than their male counterparts.

Women generally come to jail via a different path than men. It is oftentimes the result of sexually or physically abusive relationships and drug abuse associated with their life style.

Women tend to be more vulnerable to continued victimization while incarcerated. A pattern of abuse and victimization may lead to mental health issues for the female inmate.

Correctional policies and procedures have been developed over the years based largely upon experience with the male jail population, sometimes ignoring the female gender altogether. The same can said for jail classification systems, resulting in female inmates sometimes being over classified for the low risks they represent.

Recent studies have suggested that jail administrators will secure more successful outcomes for women and have fewer difficulties with the population when they recognize the basic differences between the genders, their paths to criminal behavior, their responses to incarceration and the appropriate application of gender-based treatments, interventions and policies.

Remember, predictable is preventable.

And that is Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham signing off.