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129-413: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women , a women's prison in the town of Bedford, New York , is the only maximum security New York State women's prison . The prison previously opened under the name Westfield State Farm in 1901. It lies just outside the hamlet and census-designated place Bedford Hills, New York . Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (formerly Bedford Hills Correctional Institution)

258-406: A prison uniform . The levels of security within a prison system are categorized differently around the world, but tend to follow a distinct pattern. At one end of the spectrum are the most secure facilities ("maximum security"), which typically hold prisoners that are considered dangerous, disruptive or likely to try to escape. Furthermore, in recent times, supermax prisons have been created where

387-527: A "jail". The use of prisons can be traced back to the rise of the state as a form of social organization. Some Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato , began to develop ideas of using punishment to reform offenders instead of for retribution. Imprisonment as a penalty was used commonly for those who could not afford to pay their fines. Eventually, since impoverished Athenians could not pay their fines, leading to indefinite periods of imprisonment, time limits were set instead. The prison in ancient Athens

516-422: A 17% increase since 2010 and the female prison population has been increasing across all continents. The list of countries by incarceration rate includes a main table with a column for the historical and current percentage of prisoners who are female. Globally, the vast majority of incarcerated people are men. Incarcerated women have been and continue to be treated differently by criminal justice systems around

645-497: A 1991 study published by the Department of Justice, Greg Newbold notes that in comparison to women, men were twice as likely to commit a more serious crime. Although the number of males far outweighs the number of females in the correctional facilities of New Zealand, the rate of increase of women incarcerated is growing at a pace significantly higher than that of males. Overall, the incarceration rate of women has been growing all over

774-576: A case-by-case approach, these prisons have started offering these options to women who are incarcerated in recent years. In New Zealand , the total number of convicted women increased by 111% between 1996 and 2005. In 1963, women made up 7.7% of those convicted in New Zealand's court system, with most causes of arrest being offences against property and some offences being crime against persons and/or assault. Then, in 1972, women's incarceration rates increased to 11% in lower court systems. Again, with mostly

903-549: A convicted criminal to reoffend, known as the rate of recidivism, is unusually high for those with the most serious disorders. Analysis of data in 2000 from several forensic hospitals in California, New York and Oregon found that with treatment the rate of recidivism was "much lower" than for untreated mentally ill offenders. Some prisons provide educational programs for inmates that can include basic literacy, secondary education, or even college education. Prisoners seek education for

1032-537: A decentralized "campus" pattern. A small number of prison officers, sometimes a single officer, supervise each pod. The pods contain tiers of cells arranged around a central control station or desk from which a single officer can monitor all the cells and the entire pod, control cell doors and communicate with the rest of the prison. Pods may be designed for high-security "indirect supervision", in which officers in segregated and sealed control booths monitor smaller numbers of prisoners confined to their cells. An alternative

1161-512: A form of rehabilitation or moral reform , was based on religious ideas that equated crime with sin, and saw prisons as a place to instruct prisoners in Christian morality, obedience and proper behavior. These later reformers believed that prisons could be constructed as humane institutions of moral instruction, and that prisoners' behavior could be "corrected" so that when they were released, they would be model members of society. The concept of

1290-547: A healthy diet and reasonable living conditions. The prison reform charity, the Howard League for Penal Reform , was established in 1866 by his admirers. Following Howard's agitation, the Penitentiary Act was passed in 1779. This introduced solitary confinement, religious instruction, a labor regime, and proposed two state penitentiaries (one for men and one for women). However, these were never built due to disagreements in

1419-425: A holding state until trial or hanging, was at the time revolutionary. His views influenced the establishment of the first prisons used as criminal rehabilitation centers. At a time when the implementation of capital punishment for a variety of relatively trivial offenses was on the decline, the notion of incarceration as a form of punishment and correction held great appeal to reform-minded thinkers and politicians. In

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1548-455: A large institutional kitchen. There are many security considerations, however, that are unique to the prison dining environment. For instance, cutlery equipment must be very carefully monitored and accounted for at all times, and the layout of prison kitchens must be designed in a way that allows staff to observe activity of the kitchen staff (who are usually prisoners). The quality of kitchen equipment varies from prison to prison, depending on when

1677-453: A life sentence in 2018 after admitting to sexual assault (including two counts of rape) of vulnerable women prisoners at HM Prison New Hall near Wakefield , West Yorkshire , although she was described by the prosecution as having used a "transgender persona" having been born male. She was held there on remand in September 2017. White, who started transitioning while in prison, was described by

1806-558: A long period of time in both the US and the UK. In England and Wales, a report showed that female prisoners are being coerced into sex with staff members in return for various favours, such as alcohol and cigarettes. Rape may even be more common than reports show, given that it is difficult to know the full truth about what goes on behind the walls of a prison, along with the fact that inmates often have no legal remedy to seek justice for abuse and rape. In

1935-609: A longer-term alternative to the death penalty, which could theoretically be imposed for the growing number of offenses in Britain. The substantial expansion of transportation was the first major innovation in eighteenth-century British penal practice. Transportation to America was abruptly suspended by the Criminal Law Act 1776 (16 Geo. 3 c.43) with the start of the American Rebellion . While sentencing to transportation continued,

2064-516: A minority in the global prison population, the population of incarcerated women is growing at a rate twice as fast as the male prison population. Those imprisoned in China, Russia, and the United States comprise the great majority of incarcerated people, including women, in the world. Trends observed in the global growth of the female prison population can be partly explained by evolving policies regarding

2193-416: A number of underlying social inequities which make affected women disproportionately more likely to commit crimes and therefore become incarcerated. The most prominent of these conditions is that of poverty, as well as the conditions that give rise to poverty. Globally, women in poor households tend to bear a disproportionate amount of work in regard to caring for the household, feeding the family, and educating

2322-508: A partial attempt to address these issues, women prisoners were removed from the general population and housed separately, but then subject to neglect wherein they did not receive the same resources as men in prisons. In the third stage of development, women in prison were then housed completely separately in fortress-like prisons, where the goal of punishment was to indoctrinate women into traditionally feminine roles. According to an article published in 2018 from The Prison Policy Initiative , of

2451-445: A potential to cause harm to others, medical experts have confirmed that there is an extremely low risk of imminent harm or escape when safer means are used, such as de-escalation tactics. Despite the advocacy for legislation banning this practice, and despite the already existing legislative limits, medical staff and inmates have denounced that shackling during pregnancy and post-partum continues. The federal government does not mandate

2580-497: A prison depends upon factors such as the size of the prison, how many inmates the prison has, and how much funding the prison gets. Staff may include: Prisons are normally surrounded by fencing, walls, earthworks, geographical features, or other barriers to prevent escape. Multiple barriers, concertina wire , electrified fencing , secured and defensible main gates, armed guard towers , security lighting, motion sensors , dogs and roving patrols may all also be present depending on

2709-405: A significant link between females in prison and brain injury,  which supports research that shows incarcerated females are overwhelmingly victims of domestic violence (aka male violence against women). Early facilities were considered inhumane with little regard for health and safety. Men and women were housed in a large room where the strong preyed on the weak. As of 1964, in most of

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2838-557: A significant role in helping prisoners reorient their lives and become successful after reentry. Many prisons also provide a library where prisoners can check out books, or do legal research for their cases. Often these libraries are very small, consisting of a few shelves of books. In some countries, such as the United States, drastic budget cuts have resulted in many prison libraries being shut down. Meanwhile, many nations that have historically lacked prison libraries are starting to develop them. Prison libraries can dramatically improve

2967-487: A signifier of who possessed power or authority over others. Another common punishment was sentencing people to galley slavery , which involved chaining prisoners together in the bottoms of ships and forcing them to row on naval or merchant vessels. The French philosopher Michel Foucault , especially his book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975), energized the historical study of prisons and their role in

3096-547: A tool for political repression by authoritarian regimes who detain perceived opponents for political crimes , often without a fair trial or due process ; this use is illegal under most forms of international law governing fair administration of justice . In times of war, belligerents or neutral countries may detain prisoners of war or detainees in military prisons or in prisoner-of-war camps . At any time, states may imprison civilians – sometimes large groups of civilians – in internment camps . In American English ,

3225-636: A variety of names. "Prison" is officially used for some facilities in South Australia , Victoria and Western Australia . Youth prisons in Australia are referred to as "youth correctional facilities" or "youth detention centres" among other names, depending on the jurisdiction. In Canada , while the terms "jail" and "prison" are commonly used in speech, officially named facilities use "facility", "correctional centre", "penitentiary", or "institution". A number of facilities retain their historical designation as

3354-859: A variety of reasons, including the development of skills for after release, personal enrichment and curiosity, finding something to fill their time, or trying to please prison staff (which can often secure early release for good behavior). However, the educational needs of prisoners often come into conflict with the security concerns of prison staff and with a public that wants to be "tough on crime" (and thus supports denying prisoners access to education). Whatever their reasons for participating in educational programs, prison populations tend to have very low literacy rates and lack of basic mathematical skills, and many have not completed secondary education. This lack of basic education severely limits their employment opportunities outside of prison, leading to high rates of recidivism, and research has shown that prison education can play

3483-635: Is "direct supervision", in which officers work within the pod and directly interact with and supervise prisoners, who may spend the day outside their cells in a central "dayroom" on the floor of the pod. Movement in or out of the pod to and from exercise yards, work assignments or medical appointments can be restricted to individual pods at designated times and is generally centrally controlled. Goods and services, such as meals, laundry, commissary , educational materials, religious services and medical care can increasingly be brought to individual pods or cells as well. Some modern prisons may exclude certain inmates from

3612-426: Is a distinction between shackling during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum. While some states, such as Maryland and New York banned all restraints immediately before and after giving birth, others banned shackling during active delivery, but permit it immediately before and after. Currently, the only state giving a private right of action for women illegally shackled is Rhode Island. When pregnant women are shackled,

3741-518: Is due to multiple factors including females being convicted of less severe offences, and being less likely to be convicted of violent offences, in comparison to males, and due to female prisoners being less likely to be violent than male prisoners. Modern prisons often hold hundreds or thousands of inmates, and must have facilities onsite to meet most of their needs, including dietary, health, fitness, education, religious practices, entertainment, and many others. Conditions in prisons vary widely around

3870-419: Is illegal, there are a significant amount of lawsuits claiming that shackling was used during childbirth. Researchers have argued that allowing women to remain shackled to a bed during birth is inhumane and undignified. Female incarceration rates by country and US state. Per 100,000 female population of all ages. Female incarceration rates if every US state were a country. Incarcerated females of all ages (where

3999-442: Is massive variation in the quality of living standards both between prisons around the world and between prisons within individual countries. Variations in national wealth, apportionment of national budgets and different approaches to criminal rehabilitation all contribute to the absence of uniformity in prison living standards. Other phenomena, such as the privatisation of prisons in many countries with large prison populations, such as

Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women - Misplaced Pages Continue

4128-518: Is one of three New York facilities exclusively for women, the others being Albion Correctional Facility , and Taconic Correctional Facility . Taconic, a medium/minimum-security prison, lies directly across the street from Bedford Hills, while Albion is located in western New York between Rochester and Buffalo . The site has been known as the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills, and later as Westfield State Farm. Under

4257-466: Is supported by the campaigning group Keep Prisons Single Sex, which alleges that the trans woman had been convicted of rape as a man. The MoJ denies that there was an assault. Karon Monaghan QC argued, for the claimant, that MoJ policies "allow prisoners to be accommodated in the prison estate that corresponds to their declared gender identity, irrespective of whether they have taken any legal or medical steps to acquire that gender". Sarah Hannett QC , for

4386-458: Is the second-largest in the world (after the United States) with 84,600 female prisoners in total or 5.1% of the overall Chinese prison population. Within the last decade, the rate of incarceration for women in China has increased by 46%. Women make up only 6% of the total population of individuals in prison within the country. While it is difficult to correctly evaluate the statistic regarding

4515-525: Is widely understood and more common in usage. In Australia , the words "gaol", "jail" and "prison" are commonly used. The spelling "gaol" was in official use in the past, and many historical gaols are now tourist attractions, such as the Maitland Gaol . Officially, the term "correctional centre" is used for almost all prisons in New South Wales and Queensland , while other states and territories use

4644-697: The August Rebellion , the prisoners briefly took over parts of the prison in reaction to guards' assault on Carol Crooks, an incarcerated woman organizing for prisoners' rights. About 200 of the 450-plus incarcerated women rebelled in protest of the inhumane treatment of Crooks at Bedford Hills. The order directing such compliance had been in effect since 1975. The prisoners won a subsequent civil-action lawsuit, initiated by Elizabeth Powell, that led to greater protections of Fourth Amendment (due process) rights for incarcerated people, in Powell v. Ward (1976). Following

4773-570: The Hong Kong Correctional Services had 1,486 incarcerated women, and it had a total of 1,764 women under correctional supervision if the 279 on remand were included. Hong Kong has a number of women-only institutions including Bauhinia House, Tai Lam Centre for Women , Chi Lan Rehabilitation Centre, Lai King Correctional Institution, Lo Wu Correctional Institution , Wai Lan Rehabilitation Centre, and Nei Kwu Correctional Institution. In general, statistical information in regards to

4902-641: The United States , the Alabama prison scandal at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women revealed gross sexual misconduct by male staff members against female inmates, including rape . Trying to report these abuses would be punishable by humiliation and solitary confinement while punishments for the sexual offenders were rare and small. In the United Kingdom , transgender prisoner Karen White received

5031-491: The Western world , the guards in female prisons are no longer exclusively female. As of that year, both men and women work as guards in women's prisons in the United States . However, some states have laws requiring female officers as well as a female superintendent. While most states have only one or two institutions for women, some facilities are considered "unisex" and house both male and female inmates in separate areas. There

5160-502: The 1.7 million children whose parents were incarcerated during that span. Sleep disorders and behavioral problems tend to be present on children with mothers in prison. Moreover, a study run by Child Welfare Services (CWS) concludes that the likelihood of being in a vulnerable situation is higher among children whose parents are behind the bars than other children treated by CWS. The constitutional rights of pregnant inmates in US prisons have been undergoing codification and expansion in

5289-535: The 17th century in Russia , in remote underpopulated areas of Siberia and the Russian Far East , that had few towns or food sources. Siberia quickly gained its fearful connotation of punishment. John Howard was one of the most notable early prison reformers . After having visited several hundred prisons across Great Britain and Europe, in his capacity as high sheriff of Bedfordshire , he published The State of

Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women - Misplaced Pages Continue

5418-485: The 1974 rebellion, the prison administration failed to give legal due process in prison disciplinary hearings. Incarcerated women who had been held in solitary confinement brought a lawsuit for violation of due process. They won a $ 127,000 fund from an out-of-court settlement reached in 1981 after a federal District Court "held state authorities in contempt for failing to provide due process for inmates involved in disciplinary hearings." A prisoners' committee chose to spend

5547-429: The 1980s, there was a lack of female representation in criminology around the world, making research in this area very difficult. This low level of representation was due to the fact that gender was not a large topic of debate. When studies would come up regarding the subject of criminology, most theories regarding crime were largely male-modelled due to the significant portion of crime attributed to males. However, due to

5676-547: The 19th century would see the first movement toward prison reform , and by the 1810s, the first state prisons and correctional facilities were built, thereby inaugurating the modern prison facilities available today. France also sent criminals to overseas penal colonies, including Louisiana , in the early 18th century. Penal colonies in French Guiana operated until 1952, such as the notable Devil's Island ( Île du Diable ). Katorga prisons were harsh work camps established in

5805-579: The 2000s. Data from 2010 show that female incarceration rates are growing more rapidly than male incarceration rates in the United States. One out of every four women in prison is pregnant. Less than half of prisons in the United States have official policies about medical care for pregnant inmates. About 48% of prisons have prenatal services. Of these 48%, only 15% of prisons have programs implemented to help mothers find suitable work after they give birth. Additionally, only 15% of prisons have policies that require light work or no work for pregnant women. Throughout

5934-406: The Department of Corrections notes that women in New Zealand only make up 7.4% of the total incarceration population, the increases in population are connected to four main crime categories specifically. These include illicit drug offences, theft and related offences, fraud and related offences, and robbery, extortion and related offences. Three of these four categories saw an increase of 60%, however,

6063-492: The MoJ, said that the policies "implement a nuanced and fact-sensitive approach" to balancing competing interests, and that "Any policy in this area is unlikely to satisfy every interested person". The case is adjourned, likely until 2021. Between 2010 and 2011, the rate for the imprisonment of female drug offenders was at 5.7%, a drop from 6% in 2010. The treatment in which female drug offenders receive has also been closely analyzed in

6192-502: The Prisons in 1777. He was particularly appalled to discover prisoners who had been acquitted but were still confined because they could not pay the jailer's fees. He proposed wide-ranging reforms to the system, including the housing of each prisoner in a separate cell and the requirements that staff should be professional and paid by the government, that outside inspection of prisons should be imposed, and that prisoners should be provided with

6321-424: The U.S. In the U.S., compared with male prisoners, women offenders have been more likely to report instances of childhood trauma, abuse, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder , interpersonal violence, adolescent conduct disorder, homelessness, as well as chronic physical and mental health problems, and because of such problems, women are more likely to commit criminal activity or have severity to addiction. One of

6450-495: The United States, also give rise to variability in the environmental quality of women's prisons. Once a corporation assumes governance over prison and its budget, the presiding government has relatively little oversight of the maintenance of prison standards and prisoner wellbeing. There are many ongoing political debates surrounding the continuation of private prisons. Certain prison populations, including women, have special health needs which often go unmet. For example, one study in

6579-419: The United States, pregnant inmates are treated poorly by prison staff because there is a permeating prejudice that pregnant inmates are not "worthy enough to have children". There are psychological stressors experienced by pregnant inmates during pregnancy and during the birthing process. For example, thirty-five states allow women to be chained to the bed while in labor and giving birth. In states where shackling

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6708-505: The act instituted a punishment policy of hard labor instead. The suspension of transport also prompted the use of prisons for punishment and the initial start of a prison building program. Britain would resume transportation to specifically planned penal colonies in Australia between 1788 and 1868. Jails at the time were run as business ventures, and contained both felons and debtors; the latter were often housed with their wives and younger children. The jailers made their money by charging

6837-582: The black prisoners are women, and how many of the women are Black”. There are currently 23 states that do not have any law protecting against the shackling of pregnant incarcerated women. This contravenes the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders , that explicitly states that “instruments of restraint shall never be used on women during labor, during birth and immediately after birth.” There

6966-694: The capital Rome, but throughout the Roman Empire. However, a regulated prison system did not emerge. In Medieval Songhai , results of a trial could have led to confiscation of merchandise or imprisonment as a form of punishment, since various prisons existed in the empire. During the Middle Ages in Europe, castles, fortresses, and the basements of public buildings were often used as makeshift prisons. The capability to imprison citizens granted an air of legitimacy to officials at all levels of government and served as

7095-778: The cell door, and each inmate is allowed one hour of outdoor exercise per day, alone. They are normally permitted no contact with other inmates and are under constant surveillance via closed-circuit television cameras. On the other end are "minimum security" prisons which are most often used to house those for whom more stringent security is deemed unnecessary. For example, prisoners convicted of white-collar crime (which rarely results in incarceration) are almost always sent to minimum-security prisons due to them having committed nonviolent crimes. Lower-security prisons are often designed with less restrictive features, confining prisoners at night in smaller locked dormitories or even cottage or cabin-like housing while permitting them free movement around

7224-590: The cell door. Prison food in many developed countries is nutritionally adequate for most inmates. Prisons in wealthy, industrialized nations provide medical care for most of their inmates. Additionally, prison medical staff play a major role in monitoring, organizing, and controlling the prison population through the use of psychiatric evaluations and interventions (psychiatric drugs, isolation in mental health units, etc.). Prison populations are largely from poor minority communities that experience greater rates of chronic illness, substance abuse, and mental illness than

7353-480: The children. This is in tandem with educational inequalities, pay gaps, pregnancy, and heightened rates of physical and domestic abuses. Another inequity deemed partially culpable for the rate at which impoverished women, in particular, are incarcerated due to the lack of access to mental health care. Many incarcerated women suffer from mental illnesses, and their incarceration can be directly linked to an absence of treatment for their conditions. Research has shown

7482-572: The collection of data regarding pregnancy and childbirth amongst female inmates. Therefore, it is unknown how common these practices remain, and how they occur. Activists have also denounced other issues related to pregnancy and birthing for incarcerated women. In the podcast Beyond Prison, Maya Schenwar, an American journalist and author, shared the experience of her sister who gave birth while incarcerated. For weeks prior to giving birth, her sister suffered from many pregnancy related health issues, including bleeding for weeks. She wasn't treated, and she

7611-404: The committee and pressures from wars with France , and jails remained a local responsibility. But other measures passed in the next few years provided magistrates with the powers to implement many of these reforms, and eventually, in 1815, jail fees were abolished. Quakers were prominent in campaigning against and publicizing the dire state of the prisons at the time. Elizabeth Fry documented

7740-402: The conditions that prevailed at Newgate prison , where the ladies' section was overcrowded with women and children, some of whom had not even received a trial. The inmates did their own cooking and washing in the small cells in which they slept on straw. In 1816, Fry founded a prison school for the children who were imprisoned with their parents. She also began a system of supervision and required

7869-572: The country, but only five years later there were 150 (Chesney-Lind, 1998:66). Unlike prisons designed for men in the United States, state prisons for women evolved in three waves, as described in historical detail in Partial Justice: Women in State Prisons by Nicole Hahn Rafter . First, women prisoners were imprisoned alongside men in the "general population," where they were subject to sexual attacks and daily forms of degradation. Then, in

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7998-425: The custody level goes beyond maximum security for people such as terrorists or political prisoners deemed a threat to national security , and inmates from other prisons who have a history of violent or other disruptive behavior in prison or are suspected of gang affiliation. These inmates have individual cells and are kept in lockdown , often for more than 23 hours per day. Meals are served through "chuck-holes" in

8127-551: The data is available). From a 2018 report with latest available data. From the source report: "Figure 1. This graph shows the number of women in state prisons, local jails, and federal prisons from each U.S. state per 100,000 people in that state and the incarceration rate per 100,000 in all countries with at least a half-million in total population." English: Individual articles in English: Japanese: Correctional facilities Prisons can also be used as

8256-434: The defendants would be sentenced to death. Rulers began looking for means to punish and control their subjects in a way that did not cause people to associate them with spectacles of tyrannical and sadistic violence. They developed systems of mass incarceration , often with hard labor, as a solution. The prison reform movement that arose at this time was heavily influenced by two somewhat contradictory philosophies. The first

8385-404: The determination of whether they will be placed in a mental health unit), and many other factors. This sorting of prisoners is one of the fundamental techniques through which the prison administration maintains control over the inmate population and attempts to reduce risks and liabilities in an attempt to create an orderly and secure prison environment. At some prisons, prisoners are made to wear

8514-504: The disciplinary system advocated by the SIPD. By the 1840s, penal transportation to Australia and the use of hulks was on the decline, and the Surveyor-General of convict prisons, Joshua Jebb , set an ambitious program of prison building in the country, with one large prison opening per year. Pentonville prison opened in 1842, beginning a trend of ever increasing incarceration rates and

8643-419: The economic benefits of providing a free source of hard labor, the proponents of the new penal code also thought that this would deter criminal activity by making a conspicuous public example of consequences of breaking the law. However, what actually ended up happening was frequent spectacles of disorderly conduct by the convict work crews, and the generation of sympathetic feelings from the citizens who witnessed

8772-536: The efficacy of legal reform had declined, as statutory changes had no discernible effect on the level of crime, and the prisons, where prisoners shared large rooms and booty including alcohol, had become riotous and prone to escapes. In response, New York developed the Auburn system in which prisoners were confined in separate cells and prohibited from talking when eating and working together, implementing it at Auburn State Prison and Sing Sing at Ossining . The aim of this

8901-470: The end of the 17th century, houses of correction were absorbed into local prison facilities under the control of the local justice of the peace. England used penal transportation of convicted criminals (and others generally young and poor) for a term of indentured servitude within the general population of British America between the 1610s and 1776. The Transportation Act 1717 made this option available for lesser crimes, or offered it by discretion as

9030-478: The eyes of the public. They suggested that prisoners be sent to secluded "houses of repentance" where they would be subjected (out of the view of the public) to "bodily pain, labor, watchfulness, solitude, and silence ... joined with cleanliness and a simple diet". Pennsylvania soon put this theory into practice, and turned its old jail at Walnut Street in Philadelphia into a state prison, in 1790. This prison

9159-449: The facility and also to allow a smaller prison staff to monitor prisoners directly, often using a decentralized "podular" layout. (In comparison, 19th-century prisons had large landings and cell blocks which permitted only intermittent observation of prisoners.) Smaller, separate and self-contained housing units known as "pods" or "modules" are designed to hold 16 to 50 prisoners and are arranged around exercise yards or support facilities in

9288-476: The feminist movement in the 1960s, demand for information concerning female incarceration arose. Due to this growing demand that gained speed in the 1980s, research in crimes committed by women has surged The number of children with mothers in prison has doubled during the 17 years from 1990 to 2007, according to a 2007 report run by the Bureau of Justice Statistic (BJS). Mainly, Black and Hispanic children were part of

9417-600: The final destination is actually located. In the United States, authorities began housing women in correctional facilities separate from men in the 1870s. The first American female correctional facility with dedicated buildings and staff was the Mount Pleasant Female Prison in Ossining, New York ; the facility had some operational dependence on nearby Sing Sing , a men's prison. In the 1930s, 34 women's prisons were built, by 1990 there were 71 women's prisons in

9546-543: The first half of the 19th century, capital punishment came to be regarded as inappropriate for many crimes that it had previously been carried out for, and by the mid-19th century, imprisonment had replaced the death penalty for the most serious offenses except for murder. The first state prison in England was the Millbank Prison , established in 1816 with a capacity for just under 1,000 inmates. By 1824, 54 prisons had adopted

9675-405: The fund for improving prison life; the top priority was a $ 10,000 lobbying fund to be used to press for merit time legislation to allow time off for good behavior. The committee's purchases also included word processors and a copier; recreational equipment such as roller skates; and legal services, including paying for lobbying to have merit time eligibility expanded under state law. An uprising in

9804-506: The general population, in the Infant Development Center located on a single floor of one of the buildings. Those who wish to participate in the program must not have had any involvement with child welfare authorities in the past, nor can anyone who has been convicted of a violent crime. Children are allowed to stay in the nursery until 12 months (one year), although this can be extended up to 18 months ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 years) so

9933-450: The general population, usually for safety reasons, such as those within solitary confinement, celebrities, political figures and former law enforcement officers, those convicted of sexual crimes and/or crimes against children, or those on the medical wing or protective custody. Generally, when an inmate arrives at a prison, they go through a security classification screening and risk assessment that determines where they will be placed within

10062-455: The general population. This leads to a high demand for medical services, and in countries such as the US that do not provide tax-payer funded healthcare, prison is often the first place that people are able to receive medical treatment (which they could not afford outside). Some prison medical facilities include primary care , mental health services, dental care , substance abuse treatment, and other forms of specialized care, depending on

10191-461: The grounds to work or partake in activities during the day. Some countries (such as Great Britain ) also have "open" prisons where prisoners are allowed home-leave or part-time employment outside of the prison. Suomenlinna Island facility in Finland is an example of one such "open" correctional facility. The prison has been open since 1971 and, as of September 2013, the facility's 95 male prisoners leave

10320-535: The hospital. More women than men try to escape the prison system in Britain. Of those women who escape almost half escape while receiving medical attention at a hospital. Circa 2017, according to the World Prisons Brief , women make up about 20.8% of Hong Kong's inmate population. Of any sovereign state or dependency, minus very small countries/microstates, Hong Kong, as of circa 2017, has the highest percentage of women in correctional supervision. In August 2017

10449-520: The inmates for food, drink, and other services, and the system was generally corruptible. One reform of the seventeenth century was the establishment of the London Bridewell as a house of correction for women and children. It was the first facility to make any medical services available to prisoners. With the widely used alternative of penal transportation halted in the 1770s, the immediate need for additional penal accommodations emerged. Given

10578-463: The journal Health and Social Care in the Community found that in England and Wales, which have the highest prison populations of any European countries, women's specific mental and physical health needs are under-researched and not sufficiently cared for, with 40% of female prisoners reporting long-term health problems in comparison with the male statistic of 33%. In Great Britain, in 1996 a new policy

10707-645: The judge as a "predator" and a danger to women and children. In October 2020, the Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) (MoJ) policy on incarcerating transgender prisoners in women's prison was challenged at the High Court of Justice by an unnamed prisoner. She alleges she was sexually assaulted by a trans woman prisoner, in possession of a Gender Recognition Certificate , in August 2017 in HMP Bronzefield . The claimant

10836-410: The large population of female low-level offenders, usually imprisoned for narcotic use or possession. Western powers, particularly the United States, have largely advocated for the global proliferation of the so-called “War on Drugs”. While there is no globally uniform representation among female prisoners in terms of the types of crimes they are imprisoned for, it is widely acknowledged that there are

10965-490: The late 17th century and during the 18th century, popular resistance to public execution and torture became more widespread both in Europe and in the United States. Particularly under the Bloody Code , with few sentencing alternatives, imposition of the death penalty for petty crimes, such as theft, was proving increasingly unpopular with the public; many jurors were refusing to convict defendants of petty crimes when they knew

11094-468: The leadership of Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909). Another prominent prison reformer who made important contributions was Alexander Paterson who advocated for the necessity of humanizing and socializing methods within the prison system in Great Britain and America. Prisons employ people to run and maintain the prison while keeping control of the inmates. Oftentimes, the number of people employed within

11223-431: The level of security. Remotely controlled doors, CCTV monitoring, alarms, cages, restraints , nonlethal and lethal weapons, riot-control gear and physical segregation of units and prisoners may all also be present within a prison to monitor and control the movement and activity of prisoners within the facility. Modern prison designs have increasingly sought to restrict and control the movement of prisoners throughout

11352-470: The lowest category (illicit drug offences) saw the smallest increase at 40%. As of March 1, 2012, the Russian Criminal Justice system housed about 60,500 women, 8.1% of the total number of people incarcerated in the country. Russia has been slow to implement reform for the rights of its incarcerated population, especially for women. Russia has some criminal laws that contain articles that govern

11481-462: The mistreatment of the convicts. The laws quickly drew criticism from a humanitarian perspective (as cruel, exploitative and degrading) and from a utilitarian perspective (as failing to deter crime and delegitimizing the state in the eyes of the public). Reformers such as Benjamin Rush came up with a solution that would enable the continued use of forced labor while keeping disorderly conduct and abuse out of

11610-593: The modern prison was imported to Europe in the early 19th-century. Prior forms of punishment were usually physical, including capital punishment, mutilation , flagellation (whipping), branding , and non-physical punishments, such as public shaming rituals (like the stocks ). From the Middle Ages up to the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, imprisonment was rarely used as a punishment in its own right, and prisons were mainly to hold those awaiting trial and convicts awaiting punishment. However, an important innovation at

11739-437: The mother can be released with her child. As of 2015 it is the longest operating prison nursery in the U.S. In the post– Furman v. Georgia period, from the time New York reinstated the death penalty in 1995 until its repeal in 2007, Bedford Hills prison was designated as having the state death row for women. However, New York State did not execute anyone during that time, nor since 1963. In 1974, in what came to be called

11868-451: The name Westfield State Farm, it housed 487 women in 1930, and 645 in 1940. A prison nursery was first established upon the opening of the prison, in 1901. The current incarnation, Bedford Hills' family-centered program, was founded by Sister Elaine Roulet . It has served as a model for other prison programs in the United States and is considered the standard for innovative family-centered programs. Mothers incarcerated there are separate from

11997-493: The needs of the inmate population and the willingness of the prison to provide for these needs. Health care services in many prisons have long been criticized as inadequate, underfunded, and understaffed, and many prisoners have experienced abuse and mistreatment at the hands of prison medical staff who are entrusted with their care. In the United States, a million incarcerated people suffer from mental illness without any assistance or treatment for their condition. The tendency of

12126-599: The overall social system. The book analyzed changes in Western penal systems during the modern age based on historical documents from France. Foucault argues that prison did not become the principal form of punishment just because of the humanitarian concerns of reformists . He traces the cultural shifts that led to the predominance of prison via the body and power. Prison used by the "disciplines" – new technological powers that can be found, according to Foucault, in places such as schools, hospitals, and military barracks. From

12255-463: The potential to be postponed, reduced, or cancelled. Additionally, women in prison with their children are entitled to “improved living conditions, specialised medical services, and more rations and clothing”. As for the women that do not have children, they face overcrowded conditions and inadequate medical care. Furthermore, women are often brought through transit prisons on what could be a two-month journey to their final destination, regardless of where

12384-406: The prison did not warn any relatives. She gave birth alone, surrounded only by the medical staff and a prison guard standing in the room the entire time, looking at her while she was in labor. This experience, Schenwar explains, is not unique, and she has heard many similar stories over the years she spent studying the conditions of incarcerated women. Rape in female prisons has been commonplace for

12513-466: The prison grounds on a daily basis to work in the corresponding township or commute to the mainland for either work or study. Prisoners can rent flat-screen televisions, sound systems, and mini-refrigerators with the prison-labor wages that they can earn—wages range between 4.10 and €7.30 per hour. With electronic monitoring , prisoners are also allowed to visit their families in Helsinki and eat together with

12642-468: The prison in November, 1981, that resulted in disciplinary reports against 61 inmates. The reports were exactly the opposite of the court's ruling, Mr. Coughlin observed, adding, You can't throw away due process by whim. The administrative staff was all demoted or transferred, and the disciplinary charges against the inmates were dropped. Thomas A. Coughlin, State Corrections Commissioner, stated in 1982 that

12771-635: The prison staff. Prisoners in Scandinavian facilities are permitted to wear their own clothes. There are fundamental differences between the security level of men's prisons and that of women's prisons. Male prisons tend to have higher, or more severe, security levels/classifications than female prisons. This is even noticeable when comparing the construction and design of male prisons which tend to have very tall walls and towers, barbed wire and other serious security measures whereas these types of high level security measures are absent at many female prisons. This

12900-455: The prison system. Classifications are assigned by assessing the prisoner's personal history and criminal record, and through subjective determinations made by intake personnel (which include mental health workers, counselors, clerical staff, sheriff deputies, prison unit managers, and others). This process will have a major impact on the prisoner's experience, determining their security level, educational and work programs, mental health status (e.g.

13029-437: The prison was constructed, and the level of funding available to procure new equipment. Prisoners are often served food in a large cafeteria with rows of tables and benches that are securely attached to the floor. However, inmates that are locked in control units, or prisons that are on "lockdown" (where prisoners are made to remain in their cells all day) have trays of food brought to their cells and served through "chuck-holes" in

13158-462: The problems female offenders are facing is that they need more special substance abuse treatment for their gender, but the treatment they receive are mostly male-oriented programs such as Therapeutic Community (TC) models. As substance abuse treatment is not fairly granted in prisons across the U.S., recidivism is likely to go up within 2011, with the most serious offense for 59.4% of women incarcerated in federal prisons being drug violations. Before

13287-506: The quality of life for prisoners, who have large amounts of empty time on their hands that can be occupied with reading. This time spent reading has a variety of benefits including improved literacy, ability to understand rules and regulations (leading to improved behavior), ability to read books that encourage self-reflection and analysis of one's emotional state, consciousness of important real-world events, and education that can lead to successful re-entry into society after release. In 2024,

13416-549: The rate of incarceration for women in China has been found difficult to compare to other countries around the world. However, some scholars argued in 2003 that approximately one-fifth of the total number of women in the United States would be equivalent to that of the total population of women incarcerated in China. According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, as of August 2014, the Chinese women's prison population

13545-704: The restraints are entirely controlled by the prison guards, not the medical staff. These methods of shackling have been greatly denounced for the effects they have on both the mother and the fetus. A 2016 study revealed that shackles create unique safety risks, notably "potential injury or placental abruption caused by falls, delayed progress of labor caused by impaired mobility, and delayed receipts of emergency care when corrections officers must remove shackles to allow for assessment of intervention". Furthermore, being shackled can cause trauma, or exacerbate already existing trauma and post-traumatic experience symptoms. While shackles are justified as necessary to prevent flight risk or

13674-473: The rise of female incarceration rates in New Zealand is not due to the increasing severity of crimes committed by women. As well as this, McIvor also makes the claim that New Zealand women are overrepresented in less serious types of crimes such as theft and fraud and underrepresented in more serious types of crime such as crimes of violence. According to statistics from 2014, there has been a slight increase of women prisoners in each of these facilities. Although

13803-444: The same two leading convictions. As of 1996, prosecuted females on average had fewer previous convictions than prosecuted males in most first world countries such as New Zealand. The number of women incarcerated in New Zealand peaked in 2010 and has decreased since. As of 2014, the female conviction percentage is up to 23%. Crimes against property make up a higher percentage of the total 23% female conviction ratio, at 33%. According to

13932-536: The sentencing and parole of female inmates. As criminal justice systems across the world move towards gender-blind sentencing, this has resulted in a tremendous increase in the rate of female incarceration. Concurrent elimination of parole and toughening of penalties for parole violations in many areas of the world also contribute to high rates of re-entry and re-offending, further driving up rates of incarceration of women. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime website hosts data regarding prison populations around

14061-428: The terms prison and jail have separate definitions, though this is not always adhered to in casual speech. Outside of the United States, prison and jail often have the same meaning. In New Zealand , the terms "jail" and "prison" are commonly used, although the terms "correctional facility" and "prison" among others are in official usage. In Papua New Guinea , "prison" is officially used, although "jail"

14190-514: The time was the Bridewell House of Corrections, located at Bridewell Palace in London, which resulted in the building of other houses of correction . These houses held mostly petty offenders, vagrants, and the disorderly local poor. In these facilities, the inmates were given " prison labor " jobs that were anticipated to shape them into hardworking individuals and prepare them for the real world. By

14319-753: The total number of women incarcerated due to the underreporting of these cases, China is on track to imprison more women than the United States. In New Zealand, there are three correctional facilities, specifically for women. These include Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility (ARWCF), Arohata Women's Prison, and Christchurch Women's Prison. At these facilities, women are offered various prisoner assistance programs while they are serving their sentences in prison. These consist of baby unit spaces for new mothers, mental and physical disability assistance, feeding and bonding facilities, cultural hobbies, and special food accommodations for dietary restrictions. While many of these activities are permission-based and evaluated with

14448-425: The treatment and status of women in the criminal justice system; however, with the exception of a law preventing women from receiving the death penalty, these laws are mostly limited to the status of incarcerated women as child bearers and seem to focus more on the status and rights of children incarcerated with their mothers. For instance, if a woman is pregnant or has a child under fourteen years old, her sentence has

14577-548: The troubles at Bedford were the fault of the previous local administration. The Bedford Hills Correctional Facility participates in the program Puppies Behind Bars. PBB trains prison inmates to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, as well as explosive-detection canines for law enforcement. 41°14′19″N 73°40′51″W  /  41.23861°N 73.68083°W  / 41.23861; -73.68083 Incarceration of women Approximately 741,000 women are incarcerated in correctional facilities ,

14706-428: The undeveloped institutional facilities, old sailing vessels , termed hulks , were the most readily available and expandable choice to be used as places of temporary confinement . While conditions on these ships were generally appalling, their use and the labor thus provided set a precedent which persuaded many people that mass incarceration and labor were viable methods of crime prevention and punishment. The turn of

14835-463: The use of prison as the primary form of crime punishment. Robert Peel's Gaols Act of 1823 introduced regular visits to prisoners by chaplains, provided for the payment of jailers and prohibited the use of irons and manacles. In 1786, the state of Pennsylvania passed a law that mandated that all convicts who had not been sentenced to death would be placed in penal servitude to do public works projects such as building roads , forts , and mines. Besides

14964-734: The women to sew and to read the Bible. In 1817, she helped to found the Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners in Newgate. The theory of the modern prison system was born in London, influenced by the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham . Bentham's panopticon introduced the principle of observation and control that underpins the design of the modern prison. The notion of prisoners being incarcerated as part of their punishment and not simply as

15093-401: The world at every step of the process, from arrest to sentencing, to punitive measures used. This disparity is largely due to tangible demographic differences between the severity of crimes committed by male and female prison populations, as well as a persistent belief by society at large that female criminals are better able to be rehabilitated than their male counterparts. Although women form

15222-458: The world's female population only 4% live in the U.S.; however, over 30% of the world's incarcerated women are in the United States. The Prisoners in 2014 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics determined that Black women make up 23% of incarcerated women in the United States. Black women comprise about 14% of the U.S. female population and because corrections agencies do not separate prisoner data by race and gender, “we rarely know how many of

15351-440: The world, and the types of facilities within prisons depend on many intersecting factors including funding, legal requirements, and cultural beliefs/practices. Nevertheless, in addition to the cell blocks that contain the prisoners, there are also certain auxiliary facilities that are common in prisons throughout the world. Prisons generally have to provide food for a large number of individuals, and thus are generally equipped with

15480-406: The world, including "Persons held - by sex, by age group" and "Persons held - by status and sex". International developments in the political response to social issues, specifically the global drug epidemic, have catalyzed many changes in the composition of the prison populations and, subsequently, the types of conditions prisoners experience while incarcerated. The War on Drugs has accounted for

15609-525: The world, not just in New Zealand. The most recent advocated hypothesis regarding why the rise is occurring is that women's crime rates are not increasing, rather the criminal justice system is changing. This change has led to an increase in attention to minor offences, which women are statistically more likely to commit. Gill McIvor, Professor of Criminology at the University of Stirling , supports this hypothesis with research published in 2010 which confirms that

15738-533: Was rehabilitative : the reformers talked about the penitentiary serving as a model for the family and the school and almost all the states adopted the plan (though Pennsylvania went even further in separating prisoners). The system's fame spread and visitors to the U.S. to see the prisons included de Tocqueville who wrote Democracy in America as a result of his visit. The use of prisons in Continental Europe

15867-509: Was based in Enlightenment ideas of utilitarianism and rationalism , and suggested that prisons should simply be used as a more effective substitute for public corporal punishments such as whipping, hanging, etc. This theory, referred to as deterrence , claims that the primary purpose of prisons is to be so harsh and terrifying that they deter people from committing crimes out of fear of going to prison. The second theory, which saw prisons as

15996-490: Was known as the desmoterion or "the place of chains". The Romans were among the first to use prisons as a form of punishment rather than simply for detention. A variety of existing structures were used to house prisoners, such as metal cages, basements of public buildings, and quarries . One of the most notable Roman prisons was the Mamertine Prison , established around 640 B.C. by Ancus Marcius . The Mamertine Prison

16125-474: Was located within a sewer system beneath ancient Rome and contained a large network of dungeons where prisoners were held in squalid conditions contaminated with human waste . Forced labor on public works projects was also a common form of punishment. In many cases, citizens were sentenced to slavery , often in ergastula (a primitive form of prison where unruly slaves were chained to workbenches and performed hard labor). There were numerous prisons not only in

16254-562: Was modeled on what became known as the "Pennsylvania system" (or "separate system"), and placed all prisoners into solitary cells with nothing other than religious literature, made them wear prison uniforms , and forced them to be completely silent to reflect on their wrongs. New York soon built the Newgate state prison in Greenwich Village, which was modeled on the Pennsylvania system, and other states followed. But, by 1820, faith in

16383-495: Was never as popular as it became in the English-speaking world , although state prison systems were largely in place by the end of the 19th century in most European countries. After the unification of Italy in 1861, the government reformed the repressive and arbitrary prison system they inherited, and modernized and secularized criminal punishment by emphasizing discipline and deterrence. Italy developed an advanced penology under

16512-607: Was passed, and women no longer have to be restrained while giving birth when serving their sentence. The British services for human rights and the United Nations standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners say that no one should be subjected to degrading punishment. Some prisoners refuse to go to childcare events or funerals because of the humiliation the restraints show. Women in Britain fought for their right to not be restrained while giving birth to their child, however, they must be restrained while being escorted to and from

16641-415: Was unable to see a professional outside the hospital. As she was unable to naturally go into labor, the prison decided on a date where they would induce labor, without telling her, to prevent any escape attempt. When the date arrived, despite the fact that she repeatedly asked not to be forced into labor, the guards took her to the hospital where her pregnancy was forcibly induced against her will. Furthermore,

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