Women Behind Bars

Meaning of to be institutionalized

Institutionalization is the word that talks about a theory that was coined by Berger and Luckmann. This notion addresses on how, over a period of time, a specific way of performing an operation culminates to the norm of the society and is not queried (Talvi, 2007). Humankind has a trend to create particular patterns or habits to their actions. These habitual conducts, as a result of the Social Constructivism, turn be the norm of the society without being questioned. Therefore, for a phenomenon to be institutionalized, it implies that the society has normalized certain aspects of its culture without questioning.

Women are More Likely to Tell about their Crimes

Women choose to tell more about their crimes as a form of testimony to the experiences of their past criminal consequences. Prison experiences are, for example, more dreadful to women as compared to men. Females all over the world are known to have a great fear of being imprisoned as compared to their male counterparts (Talvi, 2007). A number of factors contribute to this; for instance, mothers imprisoned usually have a haunting worry of being disregarded by their children left at home. There is also increased fear of intimidation, violence and sexual ordeals among women in prison.

The thing that Happens in the Criminal Justice System to the Defendants that are Low Income, Unemployed, with Limited Literacy and Educational Levels

Even though most governments insist that there is equality when it comes to justice dispensation across varies social classes, difference still exists. Those who are rich, for example, do have money and therefore will hire the best advocate who will make sure that they win their case (Talvi, 2007). Often the people, who are neither employed nor have high income, may not be out of prison on bond, especially when their cases are on trial, unlike their rich counterparts. The illiterates may as well not have information regarding their rights in the judicial process, unlike the literates.

Important Statistics

From statistical analysis of Girls and Women in The Criminal Justice System, female criminals have needs which are totally different from those of male criminals. The differences arise from disproportionate victimization on matters of physical or sexual abuse and their tight bond with their children. Women were also found to have high propensity of being addicted to drugs and sometimes extending to mental illness. This statistics is very important as it highlights the existing differences between male and female prison victims. There should therefore be special attention given to female inmates in relation to this statistics.

Gender Responsive Programming

Gender is defined as a collection of behaviors and qualities expected from the females and males in a society. Gender Responsive Programming is a mechanism geared toward harmonizing gender based inequalities. This approach tries to eliminate gender gaps and gender in inequality in order to bring the disadvantaged at the same level with the favored. This gender equality should be directed, for instance, to the health and education. Gender Responsive Programming advocates that being born a female should not be considered a weakness and that this notion should not be used to colonize females (Talvi, 2007).

Meaning of Middle to Upper Class People “Slipping Under the Radar” When it Comes to Using Drugs

According to the author, slipping under the radar, when it comes to the drug use from middle to upper class, implies that drug usage take long to be noticed by the bodies concerned. This is because the drug users are always discrete in their engagement with the drugs. Drug dealings are always in black market and in addition to the fact that those from upper and middle class have money; they are capable of maneuvering their drug deals and usage for a long time before being noticed. Detecting drug usage takes long even by parents on their children.

Women Engagement in Drugs and Prostitutions

Factors contributing to engagement in drugs and prostitution by women are the same. Peer pressure, rejection, humiliation, curiosity, boredom, loneliness. These are psychological problems which may force one to turn to either prostitution or drug abuse in retaliation. In most cases they are both illicit. Women may resort to prostitution for economic gain and also in order to fix their failed intimacy. Women use drugs to boost their self esteem and to conform to their peer demands. Self medication may also result into drug abuse. Drug abuse sometimes results into adverse effects like addiction and can even be detrimental to health.

Three Reasons why Health of the Incarcerated Women is so Poor Before, During and After Incarceration

Some women are incarcerated because of their involvement with drugs either as abusers. Abusing some drugs deteriorates health, for instance cocaine, and this will account for their poor health before incarceration (Talvi, 2007). During incarceration most of the women are in poor health because there is no proper medical attention given to the ill female prisoners. After incarceration women’s health condition will be poor due to low medical care caused by their economic disorganization while in imprisonment.

Improving the Situation

In order to address this issue, the authorities in prisons should provide and acknowledge the existence of special medical care to women imprisoned. This will improve the prisons and services offered in such corrective facilities. 

People do so Poorly in Isolative, Punitive Conditions and a Discussion on Stuart Grassion’s Discovery about Segregated Prisoners

Human beings are innately curious. Urgent confinement of individuals bars them from interacting with the normal social set up and interaction with the real is harmful to the victims physically and emotionally and is also psychologically destructive. It is true that we are less stable and insecure if our body and brain are disconnected from our normal surrounding. Stuart Grassion discovered what he terms the “SHU syndrome” among prisoners confined in isolated prisons. This condition is found to affect inmates who have spent more than some months in segregation. The symptoms include depression, anger, anxiety, tendency to suicide and hallucinations.

Garrett’s Law

Garrett’s law is a statute enforced in North Carolina in 2004 orders that schools provide guardians and parents with facts about influenza, meningococcal meningitis vaccines that prevent these diseases. In 2007 this law was expanded to the order that the information also should be provided on the human papillomavirus (HPV) and also on the vaccines available against HPV.

Angels Program

This is a healthy living and personal growth strategy that targets young girls, especially those between 12 to 17 years. Such girls are believed to have strong leadership skills, academic qualifications and good behavior. Therefore, the program is geared to promote the girls’ ability to make decisions, communicate, set goals and develop advanced leadership skills and network with other colleagues.

The Constitutes of “Acceptable Motherhood”

Accepted motherhood is the term that refers to the marriage at the right time and constitutes the following: bearing a child within the marriage, the ability to breastfeed the child and taking good care of the growing child. The mother should also be loving and compassionate to the child and ensure that his/her growth is not affected. 

Women’s Evaluation

Under normal circumstances women should neither be evaluated nor judged based on the purity because this aspect does not offer any significant justification to the crime they have committed. In fact, the purity of the women’s life does not stop them from committing serious crimes, meaning that they should only be evaluated based on the magnitude of the crime that they commit (Talvi, 2007). For the women who have undergone physical, emotional and mental abuse, the past life might have a bitter end and mindset. Notably, such situation could alter the ability of the woman to make rational decisions, thus she would react in emotions. Therefore, the bitterness of the past should be considered in judging the woman who has committed a criminal offence. 

Abused Woman

Often an abused woman does not have moral justification for her behavior. In such cases, the woman may be reacting in retaliation to the ordeal or in self-defense of the situation at hand. Therefore, the woman’s situation must be understood in evaluating her actions, whether she was reacting to defend her life or she was overcome by emotions for past occurrence.

The 2002 Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling

I agree with the ruling because once the buyer ordered the goods from the company, it was the responsibility of the company to make sure that the items reached the buyer in good condition since the latter had paid for products. Therefore, the buyer had the right to be compensated for the loss he incurred for delivery of defective fabric that could not meet the buyer’s needs.

Christian based Programming

As presented in the book, Christian based programming has its advantages and disadvantages to the believers. Some of the pros of Christian based programming, as the author identified, include developing the person’s spiritual being, help in enhancing societal morality and promoting Christianity among the faithful (Talvi, 2007). On the other hand, the cons include creation of an illusion about one’s life. The author also states that it might retard economic development because Christianity believes in life after death, thus one might undermine contemporary development with the illusion of a better life in heaven.

Privatizing Prisons

Basically, privatizing prisons is an initiative where prisons are handed to private management and this seeks to improve the status of the institutions and inmates. Due to privatization of prisons, the inmates might not find it normal compared to the time when the institution was being managed by the government. Sometimes privatization of prisons could make inmates find their way out of jail due to conflict of interest.   

American Approaches to the Crime and Punishment

In the United States the country’s approaches to the crime and punishment are unique because judges and lawmakers are increasingly using the new legal attitudes and social mores in countering crime. The law in the US is completely intolerance to crimes. For example, the country harshly applies exclusionary rule to punish organized crime.     

Recidivism and the Federal Ban on Assistance for Former Drug Felons

 As presented in the book, recidivism and the federal ban on most forms of public assistance for former drug felons is justifiable because it deters criminals from committing such offences with a hope of getting the state’s cover (Talvi, 2007). In my opinion, the ban was not only supposed to be on most forms, but on all forms of public assistance to such criminals as a way of showing the government’s discontent with such illegal businesses.

Impacts of the Book

The writing of the book increased my awareness on the various aspects of the law and its application in day to day life. It is also informative on issues dealing with leadership integrity and ethics. Critically, the book is literally inspiring and essential in shaping my decision on femininity affairs, thus making one sensitive on gender related issues. In terms of my growth and learning, this book assists me in making important decision about crime, law and gender relationships.