Women Incarcerated. The Facts, Theories and Solutions Women over the course of history have been inconspicuous in the eyes of the criminal justice system in the United States. Today, women have begun to double the incarceration rate according, to the FBI’s Unified Crime Report. To understand this phenomenon, one would start by utilizing scholars and various methods of crime reports to compile a list of facts and evidence to understand the why’s and how’s, however this type of information isn’t as abundant as one may think. This is where one author, Joanne Belknap decided to explore this under documented and under covered field of study. Belknap is the author of The Invisible Woman Gender, Crime and Justice; she covers various facts, theories
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According to the ACLU, in the last 25 years the number of women and girls that have been caught in the criminal justice system has skyrocketed. Due to the rise of incarceration, it is imperative that data must be used to determine what degree of crime women are engaging in as well as the threat level to the public. Utilizing various sources, the crimes that are often committed are nonviolent in nature. The Sentencing Project, has shown the inclination of women going through correctional institutions for the crimes that have committed. During the 1980’s there were only 132,580 women inside a correctional facility. According to Hrzone.com, Women during the 80’s were viewed in the past decades as a housewife and soon that title started to dissipate with women being able to work in the business world, because of the increase in job opportunities. In the 90 's however the roles for women changed once more, because of the strides made toward gender equality as well as public expression was more accepted and a woman would go without being shunned for her opinions. However, society still made a push to incite fear amongst the public. This was often pushed heavily in relation to drug crimes. With drugs being more prevalent …show more content…
This is where the life course offender and self-fulling prophecy sub categories stem from. Strain Theorists however, look a at a different perspective and this is through the lens of strain. The application of strain theory can be found in outside variables eclipsed by frustration. Some forms of this frustration can be identified by individuals who are taught and share the same goals, but are denied equal access to legitimately attain their desired goals. Social control theory mirrors the end result of labeling. This theory examines the offender through their connection with society. When the connection is lost, the offender begins to become be susceptible to deviant
According to the ACLU, in the last 25 years the number of women and girls that have been caught in the criminal justice system has skyrocketed. Due to the rise of incarceration, it is imperative that data must be used to determine what degree of crime women are engaging in as well as the threat level to the public. Utilizing various sources, the crimes that are often committed are nonviolent in nature. The Sentencing Project, has shown the inclination of women going through correctional institutions for the crimes that have committed. During the 1980’s there were only 132,580 women inside a correctional facility. According to Hrzone.com, Women during the 80’s were viewed in the past decades as a housewife and soon that title started to dissipate with women being able to work in the business world, because of the increase in job opportunities. In the 90 's however the roles for women changed once more, because of the strides made toward gender equality as well as public expression was more accepted and a woman would go without being shunned for her opinions. However, society still made a push to incite fear amongst the public. This was often pushed heavily in relation to drug crimes. With drugs being more prevalent …show more content…
This is where the life course offender and self-fulling prophecy sub categories stem from. Strain Theorists however, look a at a different perspective and this is through the lens of strain. The application of strain theory can be found in outside variables eclipsed by frustration. Some forms of this frustration can be identified by individuals who are taught and share the same goals, but are denied equal access to legitimately attain their desired goals. Social control theory mirrors the end result of labeling. This theory examines the offender through their connection with society. When the connection is lost, the offender begins to become be susceptible to deviant