Pubdate: Fri, 10 Dec 2004
Source: Providence Phoenix (RI)
Copyright: 2004 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Contact:  http://www.providencephoenix.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/648
Author: Steven Stycos
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.DAREgeneration.com

BEHIND BARS

Female Population Soars In US Prisons

Even as the number of women in US prisons more than doubled from 1992 to 
2002, Rhode Island's female prisoner population remained fairly stable at 
about 200, says Cindy Drake, deputy warden for the women's facilities at 
the state Department of Corrections.

"We'd like to think it's because we've made a commitment in the last 10 
years," commented Teresa Foley, professional-services coordinator at the 
women's facilities, "that every woman [prisoner] has transitional 
programming." But Foley cautioned that a careful statistical analysis of 
DOC's results has yet to be completed.

While praising Rhode Island's treatment of women inmates, a panel of 
reformers called for major changes in drug laws and prison policies while 
speaking last Friday, December 3 at Brown University. Speakers, sponsored 
by the Rhode Island chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, endorsed 
more education and less punishment for women accused of non-violent 
drug-related crimes.

Their calls come just a month after the US Department of Justice released 
statistics showing that the number of inmates in state in federal prisons 
rose by 2.1 percent last year, even though the rate for violent crime 
continue to decline. DOC officials say Rhode Island is bucking that trend 
with women prisoners by inviting social service agencies like the Urban 
League of Rhode Island and the Providence Center into the prisons, so that 
women meet drug counselors, fuel assistance program administrators, and 
others who can help them succeed when they are released. If those 
connections are not made on the inside, women offenders will not seek help 
on the outside, states Drake, a former state social worker, because, 
"They've been put down so many times."

The most common female crimes, shoplifting and prostitution, are related to 
getting money for drugs, Drake notes. Once women are in jail, DOC moves 
quickly to provide drug counseling and other rehabilitation because 51 
percent of Rhode Island's female prisoners serve six months or less behind 
bars.

Another speaker, Mary Barr, executive director of the prison reform group 
Conextion Inc., calls education and jobs, "the two major deterrents to 
crime," and argues that putting female drug users in prison "is actually 
propagating [drug use]." Other panelists advocated prison programs 
specifically designed for women and endorsed repeal of harsh drug laws, 
including the lifetime ban on those with drug convictions from living in 
public housing.

Carol Shapiro, executive director of the New York City-based Family 
Justice, says almost all drug-treatment programs are designed for men, and 
that many do not work for women. The boot camp-style prisons used in some 
states, but not Rhode Island, for example, inappropriately humiliate women, 
she says, by shaving their heads and having male guards scream orders at 
them. Women respond better to drug treatment programs that permit them to 
discuss their addictions, something many men are reticent to do, she adds. 
Sexual stereotypes also cause women to be returned to prison more often 
than men, she contends, for minor probation violations like visiting a bar 
or violating a curfew.

To maximize an offender's chance of success, prisoners' families should be 
involved in treatment programs, she argues. To do that, Shapiro opened a 
neighborhood center in New York City that provides a range of social 
services to offenders and their families. The Family Life Center on Broad 
Street in Providence provides similar services.

Another panelist, Lynn Paltrow, decried the prosecution of women for taking 
drugs during their pregnancies. Despite widespread publicity about "crack 
babies," little medical evidence exists that cocaine use during pregnancy 
causes birth defects, insists Paltrow, executive director of National 
Advocates for Pregnant Women. The prosecutions, particularly in South 
Carolina, illustrate than women are punished more severely than men for 
comparable offenses, she says. No one prosecutes fathers arrested for drunk 
driving, she notes, because they may endanger their children during future 
drinking bouts.
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