In cases like these, discrimination seems to be a good idea

[mothwing]

Of course there are many cases of men who are vulnerable and in jail, mentally unstable and in jail, not likely to re-offend and in jail, come from a history of abuse and in jail, and who would benefit from mental health care far more than from being in jail. Of course it would be wrong to discriminate people just because of their sex, even though it's positive discrimination this time. Still, abolishing women's jails and replacing them by small secure units sounds like a very good idea.

I've been wondering about the use of women's prisons and it's inmates for ages. There are seven jails for women in Germany, so few that most of the, oh, some 3,000 female offenders are kept in men's prisons instead. And here, like in the UK, most of the "dangerous" criminals in there also seem to be absolutely unlikely to re-offend. Those few who are guilty of crimes that were violent in nearly all cases happened after a long history of abuse, the victim of the female offender usually being the person abusing them. Of course, there are cases of women who are violent and are likely to re-offend - but their numbers are small, only a tenth of the female prisoners. It's the same percentage in the UK.

Most of the female prisoners are suffering from mental health problems in the UK, and I have seen similar articles with the same results for German women. There have been German studies showing that they would benefit from mental health care far better than from incarceration, it's the same in the UK - which makes sense, because why would incarceration be beneficial for mental health?

I really hope they get those reforms under way. And German jails - I wonder why our government, so keen on saving, has not thought about abolishing them already. Even some of our prison wardens in women's jails said that they weren't doing any good and weren't really useful (notably of course the great Helga Einsele).

Comments

[duckygirlrocks.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds interesting! But it made me wonder about the (admittedly small) number of women who are violent criminals. Will the reforms take them into account? They would need to, I'm sure, but do you think they would be treated seperately or differently? I'm genuinly curious.

Here in America, the number of womens prisons to mens is smaller, but I'm not sure by how much. This entry of yours has made me sit back and realize, though, that when I think of criminals and prisons, I always automatically think of men. Is it just that they're more visible or that the female American criminals are in usually the same cases as you mentioned? Oh, I'd never say there weren't genuinly violent females in the U.S. I've seen documentaries and interviews with many and a few were unabashed and unrepentant. Which has just made me think of nature vs. nurture...

Ok, my thoughts have officially splintered into twenty different directions, so ignore me. I'm going to go think now.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Hm. Seems that the numbers are internationally consistent, so nature/nurture is pretty spot-on! I've heard people repeatedly blaming it on testosterone, although I think it can't be that simple.

Separately or differently... good question. I'd say it depends on the individual cases, although fuzzy categories as "individual human being" and "circumstances" don't work well with our justice systems. :)
Separately is a must, I'd say. Amnesty International has dreadful things to say about the way women are treated in prisons everywhere as it is, and I think that'd be worse if they weren't treated separately.
Differently - that really depends on the cases, I think. There are cases which should definitely be treated differently. I am not sure it would be entirely fair, but since there are enough studies supporting the view that most female inmates are not a threat for societies everywhere and since the recidivist rates are so low everywhere - why not?

I really wonder if they'll really agree on reforms. Even though it would save a lot of money and would make sense I have the feeling that at least the German justice system is too reactive for that and it'll take another generation or so. :P

That's interesting, I also tend to think of men first. :) And it does make sense, if about 95% percent or so of criminals are men. Although the numbers of female criminals are increasing everywhere, just slightly. It was from 5.5% in 1990 to 6.6% in 1999 for the US (this German page here (http://daa.amerikanistik.net/daa10/frauengefaengnisse.html) tells me this, at least. Hm.) and there are similar numbers for Germany and the UK.
And according to the same page only about 30 percent of the women were involved in violent crimes (which can be seen on this graph here (http://daa.amerikanistik.net/daa10/images/heger/heger3.jpg). Colours: blue= violent crimes, purple = property crimes, yellow = drug related crimes and turquoise = other), and the victims of some 60% of those were family members who had abused them as well.

Interestingly enough, that German source up there quotes a few American sources which reveal things about their background that applies to German and UK women in prison as well:
"Most of America's [female] prisoners are economically impoverished, poorly educated people who need to learn how to solve their problems, which usually are medical and economic, including addiction, poor physical health, lack of education, and lack of job skills, literacy, or psychological balance within the community. They are employees or would-be employees, not employers, and we send them away to repressive, hostile, and unhealthy places far from home, where security is the first and foremost priority, and where they get no treatment, no counseling, and no training, no help with their problems. Being locked up hastens the breakdown of their relationships with their families and communities, further damages the fragile balance of their lives, removes them from their responsibility for their behavior, and then returns them ill-equipped to live a normal, crime-free life." (Watterson 23)"

... which is pretty much exactly what's said in the UK sources and those on Germany. Hm. We are just NICER. :D

[duckygirlrocks.livejournal.com]

:D

You know, if you break it down, all violent crime, I think, could be said to have different psychological factors involved. I have always believed that if you scratch the surface of the criminal, male or female, that you'd find a one time victim of something. What makes the criminal, though, and what prompts another from the same background/situation to go another direction? This is a question that continually puzzles and fascinates me. It's how you handle it, I've heard, but what does that mean? I know what it generically means, but I have trouble believing it's so simple...

Still, the gender seems to matter inasfar as males are more likely to commit violent crimes. Do you think that, at least, could be put down to testosterone?