We should stop putting women in jail. For anything.
By Patricia O'Brien November 6
Patricia O'Brien is an associate professor at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at University of Illinois at Chicago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteveryt...-anything/
The argument is actually quite straightforward: There are far fewer women in prison than men to start with — women make up just 7 percent of the prison population. This means that these women are disproportionately affected by a system designed for men.
But could women’s prisons actually be eliminated in the United States, where the rate of women’s incarceration has risen by 646 percent in the past 30 years? The context is different, but many of the arguments are the same.
What purpose is served by subjecting the most disempowered, abused women to the perpetually negative environment of prisons?
By Patricia O'Brien November 6
Patricia O'Brien is an associate professor at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at University of Illinois at Chicago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteveryt...-anything/
The argument is actually quite straightforward: There are far fewer women in prison than men to start with — women make up just 7 percent of the prison population. This means that these women are disproportionately affected by a system designed for men.
But could women’s prisons actually be eliminated in the United States, where the rate of women’s incarceration has risen by 646 percent in the past 30 years? The context is different, but many of the arguments are the same.
What purpose is served by subjecting the most disempowered, abused women to the perpetually negative environment of prisons?
