There are 231,000 women incarcerated in the United States, this is an absolute crazy statistic, this is shocking to me because when someone hears the word criminal, men are the first thing pictured in their mind. I find this very interesting because this statistic takes the criminal stereotype, as a man, and proves it wrong. Also, the rate in which women are being incarcerated has been twice that of men’s incarceration rates in the past two decades. This is just further information supporting the fact that women are becoming more susceptible to crime. Although women are coming in and out of the criminal justice system more often now than they did in the past does not mean that they are being incarcerated for serious crimes. Actually, over half of the women incarcerated in the United States are located in local jails, which means they are serving a term of 1-2 years or less depending on the state in which they reside. To go into further description the women that are incarcerated into local jails are serving time for a misdemeanor case, not a felony. Do not get me wrong there are numerous women that are incarcerated into prisons for more serious crimes, known as felonies, 99,000 out of 231,000 to be exact. This goes to show that women are just as capable as men when it comes to committing crimes of any degree, whether it is petty theft to burglary, or arson to murder. Around 60% of the women incarcerated have not had a trail or been convicted of a crime. This is very important when it comes to mass incarceration, the criminal justice system must go through the trials of the 60% of the women to make sure they are rightfully convicted and deserve to be behind bars. Once these trials have been started it will be evident that the number of women incarcerated will drop due to lack of evidence and other factors that cause a case to be dropped. Once this happens the criminal justice system is bound to notice a slight decrease in the mass incarceration numbers in the United States. Although the number would decrease slightly it would be a small helpful step in this large issue of mass incarceration. Mass incarceration does not only affect women, it affects juvenile girls, 10% of juvenile girls are incarcerated in juvenile facilities for status offenses, otherwise known as actions that are legal for adults to take part in, but illegal for minors. When a young girl is put into a juvenile facility for a status offense, they are bound to meet other girls that are in for things far worse. With this they can meet up and learn how to do more, and worse criminal offenses. This means with the new skills and crimes they have learned or been introduced to they can continue being put into the system into adulthood and become just another statistic. The criminal justice system in the United States needs to focus on women and their trails and crimes to help lower the number of mass incarceration. As well as, separate minor offenders from serious habitual offenders in juvenile systems to try to reduce the amount of criminal intelligence that can be taught. LW789
I agree with your take on status offenses amongst juvenile girls. There must be different rehabilitation methods established when minor offenses like truancy and running away are committed. I believe community rehabilitation methods would be more practical as opposed to sending lesser offenders to juvenile facilities, inevitably increasing the chances for future incarceration.
I agree with the statement you made about young girls being but in jail for status offenses does nothing for these juvenile girls except more harm. Being exposed to other people who are doing worse criminal acts than just status offenses will influence these girls to do more serious criminal activities. Jwilliejack789
I totally agree with everything that has been said. I also believe that e need to come up with some different methods for youth when it come to status crimes for more than one reason. Because well they are kids they do not always understand exactly what they are doing and for two many people are trying to improve the corrections part of the criminal justice system and I truly believe that just throwing these youths into facilities isn't actually helping then but damaging them. other methods should be use and not only will in benefit the people but it will help improve the money that is spent on the people in the facilities. Sunshine789
The author, Aleks Kajstura, touched on many different topics relating to the mass incarceration of women. When looking at the population of all people incarcerated, most are held in state facilities. However, the article finds, “more incarcerated women are held in jails than in state prisons” (2). Out of 231,000 women incarcerated, 114,000 are kept in jails. The number of women in jails accounts for almost half of all incarcerated. Another interesting point is the rate at which women are being incarcerated. Kajstura states, “Women’s incarceration has grown at twice the pace of men’s incarceration in recent decades” (2). The data surrounding men’s incarceration has overshadowed that of women for a long time. The data must be established in order to end mass incarceration among all people. Similar to men, a large proportion of women incarcerated are not actually convicted of a crime. Sixty percent of all women in local jails are awaiting trial. This is most likely due to the high dollar bail outs, which most women in jail cannot afford. According to Kajstura, in recent years, women’s arrests have actually decreased, “so changes in arrests can’t explain all of the increase in the number of women in jail” (3). The article proposes that more data is needed in order to explain the growth of women incarcerated. The article once again confronts the issue of bail affordability in terms of women. The author addresses the issue full-frontal saying, “...the typical bail amounts to a full year’s income for women” (3). This seems to be a plausible reason of mass incarceration of women, especially in jail. Unlike men, who are more apt to end up in prison, women are usually placed in jail once convicted. This could be seen as a positive because jail stays are shorter. Nevertheless, according to Kajstura, phone calls in jail are three times more expensive and some jails don’t allow real letters, resorting to postcards instead. The biggest problem associated with women in jails is the fact that eighty percent of them are mothers, most being primary caretakers of their children. This leaves children motherless and more vulnerable to other reactions from the chain of women in incarceration. Half of women are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses and one quarter of women are imprisoned for violent offenses. Kajstura says policy changes must focus on all offenses, especially violent crimes, in order to end mass incarceration among women. Another interesting object of conversation is the impact of sexuality and race on the incarceration of women. The author’s findings suggest that, “black and lesbian or bisexual women are disproportionately subject to incarceration” (4).. Kajstura also informs readers that, “ 40% of girls in the juvenile justice system are lesbian, bisexual, or questioning and gender non-conforming” (5). This is very interesting as there seems to be an overrepresentation of lesbian and bisexual women and girls in the correctional system. One final interesting topic was the amount of women on probation. Of the one million women on parole and probation, three quarters are on probation. This is troublesome because like men, most women end up in jails because of technical violations of probation or parole. There is little data surrounding women imprisoned when compared to men, but there is enough for policy reforms to take place in order to keep women out of the jails and, in turn, keep them from the never-ending terrors of poverty. Family 789
I agree that we have enough evidence to, at the very least, start making reforms to our policies. It really seems like the system is stacked against incarcerated women, especially when it comes to the financial side of being in jail or on probation. Until I read this report I didn’t even know there were probation fees. Slim789
After reading your response to the article about the mass incarceration of women, the point that stuck out to me the most was that most of the women in jail are mothers. These women are being separated from their children and aren't able to see them for a long time because of the high bail price that has been set on them. This is an issue that needs to be resolved. Jwilliejack789
Even though I have never personally been to jail or convicted of anything, reading that most women that are in the jails are mother's is no surprise. I would like to know what the percentage is of how many women of the mother's are single mother's. I can understand that in some situations a mother may feel like they need to do whatever to provide for their child. This may be stealing food from the grocery store or pimping themselves out on the streets, but in any factor not the right way of going about the situation. That's exactly why most women are just sitting in the jail awaiting trial or trying to find bail money. Again, I do feel like we need to think about opening up another sub facility that places women and men in if they are yet to be convicted or are awaiting trail, this may lessen the capacity that is overpopulating the jails.
Mass incarceration is a serious problem in the United States. Our criminal justice facilities are being overflown with people. One of the reasons for this is not only because more men are being sent to the criminal justice systems but also an abundance of women are also being sent to the criminal justice system. Studies have shown that women are being incarcerated at twice the rate men are being incarcerated in recent decades. Most of these women though are not being sent to prison but to local jails. In these jails a staggering 60% of the women are not convicted of any crime and are sitting in jail awaiting trial. Not only are women being held in jails because of local authority but an additional 12,500 women detainees are being held in local jails because authorities at the state and federal levels are paying jails to house these women. This issue is so bad that in 2016 and 2017 surveys showed that the population of the number of women grew by 5% on any given day. While the overall population of the jail decreased. But oddly enough while the population of women being housed in jails increased tremendously, data shows that in 2016 and 2017 the number of women arrests declined by 0.7%. The data we need to explain why this is happening was not being recorded. So, to truly explain why this is happening more data needs to be recorded. But a reason that makes a lot of sense is that women do not make as much money as men do, they cannot afford to post bail to get out of jail. For some women they can’t get out of jail because their full year’s salary can’t cover the bail that has been placed on them. Another huge issue with this is 80% of women sitting in jail are mothers, and of the 80% of mothers in jail most of them are primary care takers of their children. A lot of women are in the criminal justice system because of the ongoing issue of nonviolent crimes and property offenses. This data suggests that we need for reform discussions to not just focus on the easier choices but on policy changes that will help fix the problem of mass incarceration for everyone, men included. Jwilliejack789
I totally agree that we need to look at what offenses we are holding women for, and find alternative ways to hold women before trial. One thing that comes to mind is house arrest. A judge can grant an allowance for house arrest in place of a bail hearing, which is something that is supposed to happen within 48 hours of arrest anyways. mowing789
While viewing this article I didn't realize the issues that women have been going through in the justice system. The numbers of women being incarcerated are increasing. Aleks Kajstura states that the women that are incarcerated are not even convicted, a quarter of women who are behind bars have not yet had a trial.It's about 60% that are in jails and have not yet been convicted and are awaiting trial. With the jails filling up to max capacity, I feel like we need another facility of some kind to hold these women and men that are awaiting trials and conviction. Another factor that I noticed is that the general population that is held in jails are low income. Kajstura states that incarcerated women, who have lower incomes than incarcerated men, have an even harder time affording money for bail. The average bail usually amount's to a full year's income for a women. I could tell from experience that if I was caught up in the system there would be no way for me to get out. I live on a day to day, check to check life. I am a single mother and there is no way that I would have an extra 500 dollars or more just sitting in my bank account just chilling. So, yes I would be struck so to speak. Kajstura also gives some facts on how the jail system handles the incarcerated and some of the rules. It was surprising to read that jail phone calls are three times as expensive as calls from the prison, and the other forms of communication are more restricted. Apparently jails don't allow writing letters. That's also troublesome to me because I am a mother. Also, about 80% of the women in jail are mothers. So, that being said, we have low income mother's stuck in the system who do not have enough bail money let alone call their families. Seems to me there needs to be more programs to help these women. So, we have all noticed the race issue dealing with how the system incarcerates the convicted. So, it was not a surprise that women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are likely to receive longer sentences than heterosexual women.But, the statistical studies of who is incarcerated is only broken down into ethnicity and race, not on what they identify as. Only the future holds to if they will change the system of analyzing this. #pitbull789
It’s also crazy to me that many of the women in jail have not even received trial or have been convicted of anything yet. It’s crazy to see that so many of them cannot afford their bail so they have to sit in there for seemingly no reason. Why it is like that, I do not know but it is unfortunate that it is and they can’t do anything about it. Cubs789
If you had asked me approximately how many women were incarcerated within the United States I probably would have said anywhere from 70,000 to 100.000. I am shocked that out of the recorded data that it is more than doubled my uneducated guess. That fact that women’s incarceration has grown so exponentially and in such a short amount of time is so crazy. Including that we can not even get a detailed record of the events that led to women’s incarcerations increase is insane because you would think that that information would be important. In this report they even state that the federal government has not collected the key data in a decade. So we are not even sure whether the number is still increasing or not. The number of incarcerated women is so high that some of the smaller facilities have to house their detainees with in more local jails. The fact that the large majority of women are those being held waiting on trial is very upsetting. I had not considered the fact that women have lower incomes than men, which would make the bail expense higher. With 80% of women in jails being mothers as well as being the main caregivers of their children, it made me think. When it comes to the effects that a person going to jail can have on the people close to that person, especially sole caregiving mothers, comes the unique situation their children are put through. They are now without their mother who is being held for who knows how long in their minds. It does not help that jails make it so much harder for detainees to make contact with their families on the outside. Phone calls costing 3 times more than it is in prison is absolutely crazy. They already cannot not post bail so they charge them even more just to call their families. Probation is not necessarily a better option when it comes to incarcerated women. Sure they do not have to be confined to a cell, but they are required to work, care for their children, as well as meet the overly high expectations that come with being on probation. All it does is set them up to fail and end up in jail anyway. We need to collect as much data as possible to figure out why the number of incarcerated women is rising. Work on policies and programs to help incarcerated women so they can afford bail and be on probation without putting so much weight on their shoulders. Slim789
I agree that the number of women incarcerated is so high. I also find it shocking how many of these women are sitting in jail without a known sentence, or even a trial. I believe it should be very important to the Criminal Justice System to get these trials scheduled and sentences made, in order to lower the number of incarcerated women. This in turn will also lower the mass incarceration number. -LW789
In addition to my last comment, juvenile girls that are held in juvenile detention centers make up 10%, but only 3% are boys. Most of these offenses are petty status offenses. It is understood that these facilities are set for repeat juvenile defenders that have been convicted. In my opinion, kids that are being picked up for repeated status offenses are just asking for help. I do realize that these facilities have counseling and school programs but maybe implimment programs to see what the family as a whole is going through and give them resources to help the situations. #pitbull789
One of the things that struck me as odd was the number of women in the US who are held in the corrections system. Here are 10 facts that struck me as odd, unusual, or new to me. 1: Of the 231,000 women in the jail/prison system, more are in jail than in prison, either federal or state. 2: The incarceration rate of women has grown significantly, indicating law enforcement agencies are arresting women more, but the judicial system has yet to keep up with these new arrest rates, this ties back into why there are more women in jails than in prisons. 3: Another fact I was not aware of: state and federal agencies pay local jails to house an additional 12,500 women. This is a waste of precious tax dollars, and a burden on a lot of local jails. This act can tie up bed spaces, leaving local arrestees sleeping on the floors, and causing issues with health and sanitation. Another issue is manpower if the money received doesn’t go toward additional hiring additional guards. 4: Bail could cost as much as a year’s salary for some women, indicating other problems in areas such as the pay/gender gap. Men have higher salaries, so they can afford bail, whereas women are paid less, so their bail may wipe out their savings. 5: The cost issues are also part of the reason women can’t seem to avoid pretrial incarceration. They can’t bail out, so they’re stuck in jails awaiting trial. 6: Jail phone calls are three times more expensive than prison phone calls. This is due to the rates being charged by telecom companies (think mediacom, comcast, ITV3, etc) and can maybe be blamed on the fact that there are more jails than prisons, and more therefore more phone calls. 7: Because phone calls are more expensive, some jails don’t allow them, and 8: some jails only allow postcard-style mail; not even letters on full paper. This may also be because office supplies are expensive, and may add up over time, but 9: over 80% of women in the jail system are mothers, and I’d assume those mothers would want to communicate with the child(ren) to whom they are responsible. 10: The last fact that really had me thinking was that women in jail are more susceptible to mental health problems. Jails are historically known lately for their lack of mental health programs. In fact, mental health can be blamed for some of the crimes these women commit. While some jails, including one in central Illinois, are working hard to create better mental health programs, it’s hard to do when some parts of society may not fully understand how mental health affects people. This leads to a withholdment of money to jails that would like to implement mental health programs within them.
Of the 261,000 women in jail, around 100,000 of them are in local jails alone. It is hard to say why this is but, the incarceration rate of women has increased at twice the rate than men. Most of the women who are locked up have not even been convicted of a crime, some of them not even have had a trial. In 2016 to 2017 data shows that the number of women in jail grew 5% daily, even as the total population of people in jail decreased. Also, from 2016 to 2017 women’s arrest declined .7% but, the population of women in jail was still increasing. The biggest guess as to why this is, is because women have a harder time providing the money for bail. Women typically have lower income jobs than men do, which is why it makes it harder for them to pay for the bail. Lots of them also come from lower income families or households so they have no way of paying for it. Women in jails are also more likely to suffer from mental health issues due to the fact that, keeping in contact with your family is much more difficult in jails. Phone calls are three times more expensive, and some jails don’t even let them write letters to their family. And 80% of women in jail are mothers who are the primary caretakers of the children in their house. Data also shows that mass incarceration targets girls, for status offences such as running away, truancy and incorrigibility. While 10% of girls are held for things such as this, only 3% of boys in jail are held for this. And just like women who are held in jail girls of color or part of the LGBTQ community are disproportionately confined to juvenile facilities. 3 out of 4 women who are under the control of a U.S. correctional system are on probation. Probation is usually given out as an alternative to incarceration, but instead it is set with unrealistic goals that the women have to achieve. Such as high fees, which most women, like bail, cannot afford. Which if they are unable to pay these fees that is a violation of their probation. Cubs789
As I am reading this article about the women that are incarcerated, I noticed that there are some things that I did not know and some things that I may have not fully been aware of. One of the things that I was unaware of is the amount of women that in the facilities all together. If you were to ask me how many women that I though we held in the different facilities I would not even come close to the actual amount, which is 231,000 in just the United States. Another thing that I find shocking is that the rate of women vs. men that get caught up in the criminal justice system and end up incarcerated is twice as much. The fact that sixty percent of women that are held in jails, prisons or any other holding facility are not even convicted but only awaiting trial is crazy. Many law enforcement personnel are talking about trying to fix the issues with the criminal justice system but are okay with allowing all these women just sit there and await trial, how has this become okay? The bail betweens males and females is outrageous. This is because women that are incarcerated compared to males usually have a lower income than the males. Bail for women is normally about the same amount of money in the women's full year income. Jail time is usually shorter than prison time but it is harder for them to stay in contact with their families and jail phones are three times more expensive than prison phones. Eighty percent of women that are in prison, jail and other facilities are mothers. Those mothers struggle the most because of the strict rules that jails have. Women in jails are more likely to suffer from mental health issues compared to males because jails are not equipped to deal with mental health problems and men are not as sensitive. When it comes to mass incarnation to youth, the system targets youth girls for simple crimes also known as status offenses, such as running away and not cooperating with the parents. To put into perspective black girls are thirty five percent, latina girls are nineteen percent and white girls are thirty eight percent of the youth girl mass incarnation. Even though these girls are still young, that does not mean that they struggle less than grown girls. Why is locking the girls with status offenses the first thing that we do, why is there no other punishment? Most women and girls are sent to jails which are not used for long term, which means that they do not do early release which makes it so much harder for women especially for women that have families. These are all the things that I did not know and that I did not and still do not understand how this all right? Why should men and women get treated differently and I believe that this is a thing that is wrong with the criminal justice system and more importantly the corrections area of the system. As I read this article I realized that there are many differences between women and males when it comes to mass incarnation. Another thing, is that women overall and generally struggle more than men when it comes to mass incarnation. Sunshine789
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThere are 231,000 women incarcerated in the United States, this is an absolute crazy statistic, this is shocking to me because when someone hears the word criminal, men are the first thing pictured in their mind. I find this very interesting because this statistic takes the criminal stereotype, as a man, and proves it wrong. Also, the rate in which women are being incarcerated has been twice that of men’s incarceration rates in the past two decades. This is just further information supporting the fact that women are becoming more susceptible to crime. Although women are coming in and out of the criminal justice system more often now than they did in the past does not mean that they are being incarcerated for serious crimes. Actually, over half of the women incarcerated in the United States are located in local jails, which means they are serving a term of 1-2 years or less depending on the state in which they reside. To go into further description the women that are incarcerated into local jails are serving time for a misdemeanor case, not a felony. Do not get me wrong there are numerous women that are incarcerated into prisons for more serious crimes, known as felonies, 99,000 out of 231,000 to be exact. This goes to show that women are just as capable as men when it comes to committing crimes of any degree, whether it is petty theft to burglary, or arson to murder. Around 60% of the women incarcerated have not had a trail or been convicted of a crime. This is very important when it comes to mass incarceration, the criminal justice system must go through the trials of the 60% of the women to make sure they are rightfully convicted and deserve to be behind bars. Once these trials have been started it will be evident that the number of women incarcerated will drop due to lack of evidence and other factors that cause a case to be dropped. Once this happens the criminal justice system is bound to notice a slight decrease in the mass incarceration numbers in the United States. Although the number would decrease slightly it would be a small helpful step in this large issue of mass incarceration. Mass incarceration does not only affect women, it affects juvenile girls, 10% of juvenile girls are incarcerated in juvenile facilities for status offenses, otherwise known as actions that are legal for adults to take part in, but illegal for minors. When a young girl is put into a juvenile facility for a status offense, they are bound to meet other girls that are in for things far worse. With this they can meet up and learn how to do more, and worse criminal offenses. This means with the new skills and crimes they have learned or been introduced to they can continue being put into the system into adulthood and become just another statistic. The criminal justice system in the United States needs to focus on women and their trails and crimes to help lower the number of mass incarceration. As well as, separate minor offenders from serious habitual offenders in juvenile systems to try to reduce the amount of criminal intelligence that can be taught. LW789
ReplyDeleteI agree with your take on status offenses amongst juvenile girls. There must be different rehabilitation methods established when minor offenses like truancy and running away are committed. I believe community rehabilitation methods would be more practical as opposed to sending lesser offenders to juvenile facilities, inevitably increasing the chances for future incarceration.
DeleteFamily789
I agree with the statement you made about young girls being but in jail for status offenses does nothing for these juvenile girls except more harm. Being exposed to other people who are doing worse criminal acts than just status offenses will influence these girls to do more serious criminal activities. Jwilliejack789
DeleteI totally agree with everything that has been said. I also believe that e need to come up with some different methods for youth when it come to status crimes for more than one reason. Because well they are kids they do not always understand exactly what they are doing and for two many people are trying to improve the corrections part of the criminal justice system and I truly believe that just throwing these youths into facilities isn't actually helping then but damaging them. other methods should be use and not only will in benefit the people but it will help improve the money that is spent on the people in the facilities. Sunshine789
DeleteThe author, Aleks Kajstura, touched on many different topics relating to the mass incarceration of women. When looking at the population of all people incarcerated, most are held in state facilities. However, the article finds, “more incarcerated women are held in jails than in state prisons” (2). Out of 231,000 women incarcerated, 114,000 are kept in jails. The number of women in jails accounts for almost half of all incarcerated. Another interesting point is the rate at which women are being incarcerated. Kajstura states, “Women’s incarceration has grown at twice the pace of men’s incarceration in recent decades” (2). The data surrounding men’s incarceration has overshadowed that of women for a long time. The data must be established in order to end mass incarceration among all people. Similar to men, a large proportion of women incarcerated are not actually convicted of a crime. Sixty percent of all women in local jails are awaiting trial. This is most likely due to the high dollar bail outs, which most women in jail cannot afford. According to Kajstura, in recent years, women’s arrests have actually decreased, “so changes in arrests can’t explain all of the increase in the number of women in jail” (3). The article proposes that more data is needed in order to explain the growth of women incarcerated. The article once again confronts the issue of bail affordability in terms of women. The author addresses the issue full-frontal saying, “...the typical bail amounts to a full year’s income for women” (3). This seems to be a plausible reason of mass incarceration of women, especially in jail. Unlike men, who are more apt to end up in prison, women are usually placed in jail once convicted. This could be seen as a positive because jail stays are shorter. Nevertheless, according to Kajstura, phone calls in jail are three times more expensive and some jails don’t allow real letters, resorting to postcards instead. The biggest problem associated with women in jails is the fact that eighty percent of them are mothers, most being primary caretakers of their children. This leaves children motherless and more vulnerable to other reactions from the chain of women in incarceration. Half of women are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses and one quarter of women are imprisoned for violent offenses. Kajstura says policy changes must focus on all offenses, especially violent crimes, in order to end mass incarceration among women. Another interesting object of conversation is the impact of sexuality and race on the incarceration of women. The author’s findings suggest that, “black and lesbian or bisexual women are disproportionately subject to incarceration” (4).. Kajstura also informs readers that, “ 40% of girls in the juvenile justice system are lesbian, bisexual, or questioning and gender non-conforming” (5). This is very interesting as there seems to be an overrepresentation of lesbian and bisexual women and girls in the correctional system. One final interesting topic was the amount of women on probation. Of the one million women on parole and probation, three quarters are on probation. This is troublesome because like men, most women end up in jails because of technical violations of probation or parole. There is little data surrounding women imprisoned when compared to men, but there is enough for policy reforms to take place in order to keep women out of the jails and, in turn, keep them from the never-ending terrors of poverty. Family 789
ReplyDeleteI agree that we have enough evidence to, at the very least, start making reforms to our policies. It really seems like the system is stacked against incarcerated women, especially when it comes to the financial side of being in jail or on probation. Until I read this report I didn’t even know there were probation fees. Slim789
DeleteAfter reading your response to the article about the mass incarceration of women, the point that stuck out to me the most was that most of the women in jail are mothers. These women are being separated from their children and aren't able to see them for a long time because of the high bail price that has been set on them. This is an issue that needs to be resolved. Jwilliejack789
DeleteEven though I have never personally been to jail or convicted of anything, reading that most women that are in the jails are mother's is no surprise. I would like to know what the percentage is of how many women of the mother's are single mother's. I can understand that in some situations a mother may feel like they need to do whatever to provide for their child. This may be stealing food from the grocery store or pimping themselves out on the streets, but in any factor not the right way of going about the situation. That's exactly why most women are just sitting in the jail awaiting trial or trying to find bail money. Again, I do feel like we need to think about opening up another sub facility that places women and men in if they are yet to be convicted or are awaiting trail, this may lessen the capacity that is overpopulating the jails.
DeleteMass incarceration is a serious problem in the United States. Our criminal justice facilities are being overflown with people. One of the reasons for this is not only because more men are being sent to the criminal justice systems but also an abundance of women are also being sent to the criminal justice system. Studies have shown that women are being incarcerated at twice the rate men are being incarcerated in recent decades. Most of these women though are not being sent to prison but to local jails. In these jails a staggering 60% of the women are not convicted of any crime and are sitting in jail awaiting trial. Not only are women being held in jails because of local authority but an additional 12,500 women detainees are being held in local jails because authorities at the state and federal levels are paying jails to house these women. This issue is so bad that in 2016 and 2017 surveys showed that the population of the number of women grew by 5% on any given day. While the overall population of the jail decreased. But oddly enough while the population of women being housed in jails increased tremendously, data shows that in 2016 and 2017 the number of women arrests declined by 0.7%. The data we need to explain why this is happening was not being recorded. So, to truly explain why this is happening more data needs to be recorded. But a reason that makes a lot of sense is that women do not make as much money as men do, they cannot afford to post bail to get out of jail. For some women they can’t get out of jail because their full year’s salary can’t cover the bail that has been placed on them. Another huge issue with this is 80% of women sitting in jail are mothers, and of the 80% of mothers in jail most of them are primary care takers of their children. A lot of women are in the criminal justice system because of the ongoing issue of nonviolent crimes and property offenses. This data suggests that we need for reform discussions to not just focus on the easier choices but on policy changes that will help fix the problem of mass incarceration for everyone, men included. Jwilliejack789
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that we need to look at what offenses we are holding women for, and find alternative ways to hold women before trial. One thing that comes to mind is house arrest. A judge can grant an allowance for house arrest in place of a bail hearing, which is something that is supposed to happen within 48 hours of arrest anyways.
Deletemowing789
While viewing this article I didn't realize the issues that women have been going through in the justice system. The numbers of women being incarcerated are increasing. Aleks Kajstura states that the women that are incarcerated are not even convicted, a quarter of women who are behind bars have not yet had a trial.It's about 60% that are in jails and have not yet been convicted and are awaiting trial. With the jails filling up to max capacity, I feel like we need another facility of some kind to hold these women and men that are awaiting trials and conviction. Another factor that I noticed is that the general population that is held in jails are low income. Kajstura states that incarcerated women, who have lower incomes than incarcerated men, have an even harder time affording money for bail. The average bail usually amount's to a full year's income for a women. I could tell from experience that if I was caught up in the system there would be no way for me to get out. I live on a day to day, check to check life. I am a single mother and there is no way that I would have an extra 500 dollars or more just sitting in my bank account just chilling. So, yes I would be struck so to speak. Kajstura also gives some facts on how the jail system handles the incarcerated and some of the rules. It was surprising to read that jail phone calls are three times as expensive as calls from the prison, and the other forms of communication are more restricted. Apparently jails don't allow writing letters. That's also troublesome to me because I am a mother. Also, about 80% of the women in jail are mothers. So, that being said, we have low income mother's stuck in the system who do not have enough bail money let alone call their families. Seems to me there needs to be more programs to help these women. So, we have all noticed the race issue dealing with how the system incarcerates the convicted. So, it was not a surprise that women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are likely to receive longer sentences than heterosexual women.But, the statistical studies of who is incarcerated is only broken down into ethnicity and race, not on what they identify as. Only the future holds to if they will change the system of analyzing this. #pitbull789
ReplyDeleteIt’s also crazy to me that many of the women in jail have not even received trial or have been convicted of anything yet. It’s crazy to see that so many of them cannot afford their bail so they have to sit in there for seemingly no reason. Why it is like that, I do not know but it is unfortunate that it is and they can’t do anything about it. Cubs789
DeleteIf you had asked me approximately how many women were incarcerated within the United States I probably would have said anywhere from 70,000 to 100.000. I am shocked that out of the recorded data that it is more than doubled my uneducated guess. That fact that women’s incarceration has grown so exponentially and in such a short amount of time is so crazy. Including that we can not even get a detailed record of the events that led to women’s incarcerations increase is insane because you would think that that information would be important. In this report they even state that the federal government has not collected the key data in a decade. So we are not even sure whether the number is still increasing or not. The number of incarcerated women is so high that some of the smaller facilities have to house their detainees with in more local jails. The fact that the large majority of women are those being held waiting on trial is very upsetting. I had not considered the fact that women have lower incomes than men, which would make the bail expense higher. With 80% of women in jails being mothers as well as being the main caregivers of their children, it made me think. When it comes to the effects that a person going to jail can have on the people close to that person, especially sole caregiving mothers, comes the unique situation their children are put through. They are now without their mother who is being held for who knows how long in their minds. It does not help that jails make it so much harder for detainees to make contact with their families on the outside. Phone calls costing 3 times more than it is in prison is absolutely crazy. They already cannot not post bail so they charge them even more just to call their families. Probation is not necessarily a better option when it comes to incarcerated women. Sure they do not have to be confined to a cell, but they are required to work, care for their children, as well as meet the overly high expectations that come with being on probation. All it does is set them up to fail and end up in jail anyway. We need to collect as much data as possible to figure out why the number of incarcerated women is rising. Work on policies and programs to help incarcerated women so they can afford bail and be on probation without putting so much weight on their shoulders. Slim789
ReplyDeleteI agree that the number of women incarcerated is so high. I also find it shocking how many of these women are sitting in jail without a known sentence, or even a trial. I believe it should be very important to the Criminal Justice System to get these trials scheduled and sentences made, in order to lower the number of incarcerated women. This in turn will also lower the mass incarceration number. -LW789
DeleteIn addition to my last comment, juvenile girls that are held in juvenile detention centers make up 10%, but only 3% are boys. Most of these offenses are petty status offenses. It is understood that these facilities are set for repeat juvenile defenders that have been convicted. In my opinion, kids that are being picked up for repeated status offenses are just asking for help. I do realize that these facilities have counseling and school programs but maybe implimment programs to see what the family as a whole is going through and give them resources to help the situations. #pitbull789
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that struck me as odd was the number of women in the US who are held in the corrections system. Here are 10 facts that struck me as odd, unusual, or new to me. 1: Of the 231,000 women in the jail/prison system, more are in jail than in prison, either federal or state. 2: The incarceration rate of women has grown significantly, indicating law enforcement agencies are arresting women more, but the judicial system has yet to keep up with these new arrest rates, this ties back into why there are more women in jails than in prisons.
ReplyDelete3: Another fact I was not aware of: state and federal agencies pay local jails to house an additional 12,500 women. This is a waste of precious tax dollars, and a burden on a lot of local jails. This act can tie up bed spaces, leaving local arrestees sleeping on the floors, and causing issues with health and sanitation. Another issue is manpower if the money received doesn’t go toward additional hiring additional guards. 4: Bail could cost as much as a year’s salary for some women, indicating other problems in areas such as the pay/gender gap. Men have higher salaries, so they can afford bail, whereas women are paid less, so their bail may wipe out their savings. 5: The cost issues are also part of the reason women can’t seem to avoid pretrial incarceration. They can’t bail out, so they’re stuck in jails awaiting trial.
6: Jail phone calls are three times more expensive than prison phone calls. This is due to the rates being charged by telecom companies (think mediacom, comcast, ITV3, etc) and can maybe be blamed on the fact that there are more jails than prisons, and more therefore more phone calls. 7: Because phone calls are more expensive, some jails don’t allow them, and 8: some jails only allow postcard-style mail; not even letters on full paper. This may also be because office supplies are expensive, and may add up over time, but 9: over 80% of women in the jail system are mothers, and I’d assume those mothers would want to communicate with the child(ren) to whom they are responsible. 10: The last fact that really had me thinking was that women in jail are more susceptible to mental health problems. Jails are historically known lately for their lack of mental health programs. In fact, mental health can be blamed for some of the crimes these women commit. While some jails, including one in central Illinois, are working hard to create better mental health programs, it’s hard to do when some parts of society may not fully understand how mental health affects people. This leads to a withholdment of money to jails that would like to implement mental health programs within them.
mowing789
Of the 261,000 women in jail, around 100,000 of them are in local jails alone. It is hard to say why this is but, the incarceration rate of women has increased at twice the rate than men. Most of the women who are locked up have not even been convicted of a crime, some of them not even have had a trial. In 2016 to 2017 data shows that the number of women in jail grew 5% daily, even as the total population of people in jail decreased. Also, from 2016 to 2017 women’s arrest declined .7% but, the population of women in jail was still increasing. The biggest guess as to why this is, is because women have a harder time providing the money for bail. Women typically have lower income jobs than men do, which is why it makes it harder for them to pay for the bail. Lots of them also come from lower income families or households so they have no way of paying for it. Women in jails are also more likely to suffer from mental health issues due to the fact that, keeping in contact with your family is much more difficult in jails. Phone calls are three times more expensive, and some jails don’t even let them write letters to their family. And 80% of women in jail are mothers who are the primary caretakers of the children in their house. Data also shows that mass incarceration targets girls, for status offences such as running away, truancy and incorrigibility. While 10% of girls are held for things such as this, only 3% of boys in jail are held for this. And just like women who are held in jail girls of color or part of the LGBTQ community are disproportionately confined to juvenile facilities. 3 out of 4 women who are under the control of a U.S. correctional system are on probation. Probation is usually given out as an alternative to incarceration, but instead it is set with unrealistic goals that the women have to achieve. Such as high fees, which most women, like bail, cannot afford. Which if they are unable to pay these fees that is a violation of their probation. Cubs789
ReplyDeleteAs I am reading this article about the women that are incarcerated, I noticed that there are some things that I did not know and some things that I may have not fully been aware of. One of the things that I was unaware of is the amount of women that in the facilities all together. If you were to ask me how many women that I though we held in the different facilities I would not even come close to the actual amount, which is 231,000 in just the United States. Another thing that I find shocking is that the rate of women vs. men that get caught up in the criminal justice system and end up incarcerated is twice as much. The fact that sixty percent of women that are held in jails, prisons or any other holding facility are not even convicted but only awaiting trial is crazy. Many law enforcement personnel are talking about trying to fix the issues with the criminal justice system but are okay with allowing all these women just sit there and await trial, how has this become okay? The bail betweens males and females is outrageous. This is because women that are incarcerated compared to males usually have a lower income than the males. Bail for women is normally about the same amount of money in the women's full year income. Jail time is usually shorter than prison time but it is harder for them to stay in contact with their families and jail phones are three times more expensive than prison phones. Eighty percent of women that are in prison, jail and other facilities are mothers. Those mothers struggle the most because of the strict rules that jails have. Women in jails are more likely to suffer from mental health issues compared to males because jails are not equipped to deal with mental health problems and men are not as sensitive. When it comes to mass incarnation to youth, the system targets youth girls for simple crimes also known as status offenses, such as running away and not cooperating with the parents. To put into perspective black girls are thirty five percent, latina girls are nineteen percent and white girls are thirty eight percent of the youth girl mass incarnation. Even though these girls are still young, that does not mean that they struggle less than grown girls. Why is locking the girls with status offenses the first thing that we do, why is there no other punishment? Most women and girls are sent to jails which are not used for long term, which means that they do not do early release which makes it so much harder for women especially for women that have families. These are all the things that I did not know and that I did not and still do not understand how this all right? Why should men and women get treated differently and I believe that this is a thing that is wrong with the criminal justice system and more importantly the corrections area of the system. As I read this article I realized that there are many differences between women and males when it comes to mass incarnation. Another thing, is that women overall and generally struggle more than men when it comes to mass incarnation. Sunshine789
ReplyDelete