Where From? Where Now?

Prison

• 19% of women in prison were not in permanent accommodation before entering custody. 10% were sleeping rough[1]
• Around one-third of female prisoners lose their homes and often their possessions while in custody[2]
• 38% of women in prison do not have accommodation arranged on release. Only 11% receive help with housing matters[3]
• 82% of women serving an immediate custodial sentence have committed a non-violent offence, compared with 70% of men[4]
• 52% of women prisoners admitted to using heroin, crack or cocaine powder in the four weeks prior to custody, but fear of losing their children is likely to cause substance use to be hidden or underplayed[5]

“In very general terms, women seem to be treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than men. People in society don’t seem surprised if a man leaves his children, acts selfishly or desperately, and then breaks the law. But we don’t expect women to behave ‘badly’ and when they do society is hugely shocked and offended. I think this is often reflected in sentencing and perceptions of women who leave prison.” Kate John, Activities Development Worker, St Mungo’s
 

“My experience is that women feel very differently from men about having been in prison. In therapy, women often don’t disclose that they have been in prison or offer details of the experience until trust has been established. By contrast, men rarely feel stigmatised by having ‘done time’. They talk about it freely from the first and sometimes exaggerate their crimes and sentences. Anecdotally, going into custody for many of the women we work with is part of a whole experience of feeling ‘dirty’ and not ‘normal’. Prison is much more identified with masculinity than with femininity.” Gabrielle Brown, Psychotherapist for St Mungo’s Life Works Team
 
“For some women with previous repeated histories of institutional experience, prisons may represent familiar structures, systems and cultures, and social status, as well as opportunities to address physical health issues, respite from damaging substance use and domestic violence situations. Prisons have struggled however to provide co-ordinated and sustained help in working with these issues in readiness for release; in particular, in meeting psychological and emotional needs.” Lee Murphy, Manager of St Mungo’s Life Works Psychotherapy Team

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 11th, 2012 at 9:40 pm. It is filed under background, uncategorised. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.