Who's Affected by the Prisons?
Females in American Prisons
There are 148,200 female prisoners in state and federal prisons in America. America's female prisoner population has risen 400% over the past 30 years. The United States has more female inmates than any other country in the world, and often female prisoners' time in prison has a destructive impact on not just them, but their children; which also links to generational problems with incarceration.
The majority of women in prison (81%) were incarcerated for a non-violent offence; this is commonly theft or vandalism. Theft is the most common reason for imprisonment among females. This is an example of how numbers in prisons are building up because people are being arrested for less serious crimes, but still being subjected to the cruelty that is American prisons. Proof as to how damaging the American prison system is, especially to women, is that the huge majority of women in prison (83%) suffer from long standing mental illnesses and/or self harm.
There are 148,200 female prisoners in state and federal prisons in America. America's female prisoner population has risen 400% over the past 30 years. The United States has more female inmates than any other country in the world, and often female prisoners' time in prison has a destructive impact on not just them, but their children; which also links to generational problems with incarceration.
The majority of women in prison (81%) were incarcerated for a non-violent offence; this is commonly theft or vandalism. Theft is the most common reason for imprisonment among females. This is an example of how numbers in prisons are building up because people are being arrested for less serious crimes, but still being subjected to the cruelty that is American prisons. Proof as to how damaging the American prison system is, especially to women, is that the huge majority of women in prison (83%) suffer from long standing mental illnesses and/or self harm.
Not only do women suffer from mental issues, but also physical and sexual harm; particularly from their guards. Prison guards are known for being especially cruel to female prisoners, using humiliation, threats and sexual assault. In these prisons around America, 70% of the guards are males, who are notorious for reacting violently against women in these prisons; particularly those who complain about sexual assault and harassment. There have been testimonies recently of female prisoners claiming guards threaten their children or visitation rights as a way of asserting power over these women and forcing them to keep quite about their mistreatment.
72% of women inmates experienced sexual or physical abuse before being incarcerated, and prisons often fail to provide any means of counselling or therapy to these women. Survivor Testimonies of victims of rape in prison can be found here: http://www.justdetention.org/en/survivor_stories.aspx |
During their time in prison, one third of female prisoners lose their homes and possessions, leaving them little to return to and no choice other than turn back to crime. 38% of women also don't have somewhere to stay and live arranged on release.
Mothers and Children
In 2007, 1.7 million minors (1 in 43) had a parent in prison; prison holds a huge amount of female prisoners who are mothers, in fact 4/10 young women in prison are mothers. Not only are these mothers missing out on a huge part of their children's lives, but the separation from their children has been proved to be a huge factor into their mental health, or lack there of. If there isn't any family to care for babies of women who give birth in prison, the child is placed in foster care, and the mother has a very unlikely - if not impossible - chance of finding her child again. A devastating result in 2012 showed that only 9% of children were cared for by their fathers in their mother's absence.
While we may argue that the mothers are criminals so they don't deserve their children, this doesn't just have extremely damaging effects on the mother, but the child also. An approximate 17,240 children were separated from their mothers because of imprisonment, and the effects of this encourage a generational cycle of imprisonment and breaking the law. It is extremely important for children to be close to their mothers, and for mothers to be near their children, but the American prison system often prevents children being able to visit their mothers due to distance, as many mothers are held away from their home area.
We can see because of this that the American prison system isn't just hurting the prisoners, but their families. This damaging affect on the families also means that the children have a much higher chance (about 60%) of ending up in prison, becoming part of abusive relationships, and becoming much more likely to suffer mental health issues.
Mothers and Children
In 2007, 1.7 million minors (1 in 43) had a parent in prison; prison holds a huge amount of female prisoners who are mothers, in fact 4/10 young women in prison are mothers. Not only are these mothers missing out on a huge part of their children's lives, but the separation from their children has been proved to be a huge factor into their mental health, or lack there of. If there isn't any family to care for babies of women who give birth in prison, the child is placed in foster care, and the mother has a very unlikely - if not impossible - chance of finding her child again. A devastating result in 2012 showed that only 9% of children were cared for by their fathers in their mother's absence.
While we may argue that the mothers are criminals so they don't deserve their children, this doesn't just have extremely damaging effects on the mother, but the child also. An approximate 17,240 children were separated from their mothers because of imprisonment, and the effects of this encourage a generational cycle of imprisonment and breaking the law. It is extremely important for children to be close to their mothers, and for mothers to be near their children, but the American prison system often prevents children being able to visit their mothers due to distance, as many mothers are held away from their home area.
We can see because of this that the American prison system isn't just hurting the prisoners, but their families. This damaging affect on the families also means that the children have a much higher chance (about 60%) of ending up in prison, becoming part of abusive relationships, and becoming much more likely to suffer mental health issues.