The female population in state and federal prisons has soared to a record high in the United States and shows no sign of slowing, with the incarceration rate for women growing nearly twice as fast as that of men, the Department of Justice announced Sunday. North Carolina mirrors this national trend, recently experiencing difficulty housing this growing population of female inmates.

The increasing number of female prisoners has several social consequences as more and more children are growing up with incarcerated mothers. "[The women] have an impact on their children," said Jay Williams, visiting associate professor of sociology at Duke. "That could create more criminals [of their children,] and more criminals would have an impact on everyone on the Duke campus."

[continues 477 words]