Punitive Incarceration

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the numerous reports and studies that attest to the high incarceration rates in American prisons. The paper explores the reason for this high rate of incarceration and notes that it is biased towards women of color. The central aim of this paper is to ascertain the given causes and reasons for the high rate of gender disparity in the prison system. This paper takes into account the question of whether punitive approaches or community-based rehabilitation are the best options for this gender group.

From the Paper:

"There is a wide range of causes given for this situation with regard to the high percentage of women of color in our prisons. One of the central causation factors is trauma and abuse among women of all races. Studies show, for example, that there is a high correlation between abuse and trauma and arrests for juvenile delinquency. (Chesney-Lind and Okamoto, 2001) It has also been found that, "... children who experience abuse of any kind have typically been found to run away at higher rates than their non-abused peers" (Trogdon S. 2006). An important point is the link between abuse and later criminal activity. In a study by Jimerson et al (2004) it was found that that females in detention for delinquency crimes are often much more likely to have been abused before incarceration than men. The figures quoted are sixty-eight percent of women abused compared to nineteen percent of men. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chesney-Lind, M. and S.K. Okamoto. (2001) "Gender Matters: patterns in Girl's Delinquency and Gender Responsive Programming." Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice. 1:1-28.
• Dunnaville C. Unequal Justice Under the Law-- Racial Inequities in the Justice System. 2000. Retrieved December 1, 2007 from http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:DNlNGKsjzU0J:www.vsb.org/publications/valawyer/dec00/dunnaville.pdf+Minorities+in+the+criminal+justice+system&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&lr=lang_en&client=firefox-a
• Hobbs E. and Yeung B. (2000) Bad Girls. Retrieved December 1, 2007 fromhttp://www.alternet.org/wiretap/9098/
• Jimerson, S. R., Sharkey, J. D., O'Brien, K. M., & Furlong, M. J. ( 2004) The Santa Barbara Assets and Risks Assessment to Predict Recidivism among Male and Female Juveniles: An Investigation of Inter-Rater Reliability and Predictive Validity. Education & Treatment of Children, 27(4), 353+.
• Katsiyannis A.,Zhang D,. Barrett D., & Tracy Flaska ( 2004) psychosocial variables associated with recidivism among adolescent males: a 3-year investigation. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Spring, 2004

More papers on Punitive Incarceration:

• Term Paper # 103869 : "Community-based Incarceration and Criminal Justice"
• Research Paper # 96351 : "Women in Prison"
• Analytical Essay # 28564 : "Prison Rehabilitation"

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