User:Meganchong/Gender-responsive prisons

Gender Bias vs Gender Responsiveness
When considering gender-responsive prisons, it is important to keep in mind that gender responsiveness is distinct from gender bias. Gender bias demonstrates a partiality or favoritism towards a specific gender and results in unfair treatment. Gender responsiveness, on the other hand, aims at supplying gender-specific care with the hope of ultimately improving treatment under the justice system. It hopes to take into account the differences in life experiences that men and women may undergo, as well as provide strategies and practices that appropriately respond to those experiences.

What is Gender-Responsiveness for Women Offenders in the Criminal Justice System?
According to Bloom and Covington, gender-responsiveness includes creating environments that respond to the realities of womens’ lives and address the issues that are specific to their lived experiences. This often includes the site selection, the selection of staff and other employees at criminal justice locations, the development of various programming and rehabilitation efforts, content, and additional materials. Gender-responsive pathways are supposed to address the multitude of pathways that women interact with the world and the criminal justice system, as well as the ways in which they enter this system. Gender-responsive approaches are aimed at addressing social, cultural, and therapeutic interventions and issues like abuse, violence, family relationships, substance abuse, and comorbid disorders. Gender-responsiveness focuses on self-efficacy, treatment, and skills-building.

There are several elements to consider when determining if a practice or approach can be deemed gender-responsive. These include :


 * Relationship-based: promote mutual respect and empathy by acknowledging the roles that relationships and connection can play in the personal and relational growth and strength of women
 * Strengths-based: recognize and mobilize the strengths, talents, and assets of women
 * Trauma-informed: acknowledge the history and context that violence against women and trauma play in the way that they respond to programs and services
 * Culturally competent: understand and account for the diverse backgrounds and cultural contexts of women
 * Holistic: acknowledge the larger context of womens’ lives when considering decision-making and behaviors of women

The National Institute of Corrections Gender-Responsive Project
In the 1990s, across the criminal justice system, more attention was paid to female offenders as their numbers increased and research suggested that there were important gender differences between offenders at various decision points in the system. Since then, the following conclusions about female offenders were made:


 * They engage in qualitatively different offenses than male offenders. They also engage in offenses for different reasons than male offenders
 * They pose less of a threat of violence across criminal justice systems than male offenders
 * They follow different pathways into criminal behavior than male offenders

Given these differences, the Prisons Division of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) began to work alongside the University of Cincinnati to research improved strategies for identifying female offenders. The rationale behind this stemmed from the fact that female offenders were often economically marginalized, less violent than men, and more likely to experience childhood and adult victimization, substance abuse, and diagnoses of mental illness. The research aimed to investigate whether these differences required different correctional strategies.

The NIC Gender-Responsive Project (NIC GRP) started with a pilot project in Colorado in 1999. It eventually expanded into three larger projects that took place in Maui, Missouri, and Minnesota. At the project sites, female offenders’ gender-specific risk and need factors (including victimization, mental health issues, marginalization, relationship difficulties, and substance abuse) were examined to determine whether they increased the risk for institutional misconduct or community recidivism. They were also used to determine if these factors affected the classification of women in prisons.

Overall, these studies supported the use of gender-responsive frisk factors in correctional classification systems.

In general, the results indicated that female offenders with gender-responsive risk factors adapted poorly to the prison environment. They were also more likely to incur serious misconduct violations within a year of incarceration in comparison to female offenders who did not display these characteristics. Some of these gender-responsive risk factors included women who were victimized, had substance abuse or mental health problems, and victims of domestic violence. Other gender-responsive risk factors for women in the criminal justice system will be available below.

Risk Factors and Needs for Women in the Criminal Justice System
There are a variety of gender-informed assessment tools that aim at providing information about the risk level and needs of women in the criminal justice system. These include both gender-responsive factors that are specifically linked to adverse outcomes for women and gender neutral factors that are common to women and men. They attempt to recognize and mobilize womens’ strengths, in an effort to decrease the risk of negative outcomes (e.g. misconduct, recidivism, etc.). Gender-responsive tools were created to highlight the most pertinent needs and risk factors faced by women regarding the criminal justice system. By recognizing and addressing these needs, it is possible to better inform factors like case management, service delivery, release decisions, and condition setting (same NPCR.

Some examples of gender-responsive assessment tools include the University of Cincinnati’s Women’s Risk/Need Assessment and Orbis Partners’ SPIn-W.

Previous research has identified a variety of gender-responsive risk factors, as well as the gender-specific needs of women in the criminal justice system. These include histories of victimization or abuse, substance use, mental health problems, and traumatic relationships. A higher percentage of female offenders report receiving some form of public assistance prior to arrest, report being homeless, or report having lived in shelters at some point in adulthood.

Marital Status and Children
Relatively few women reported being married when they were first entered into the criminal justice system, though large percentages reported having at least one child under the age of 18. Moreover, female offenders tend to score higher than men on the family and marital status domain of the Level of Service Inventory. The Level of Service Inventory is a quantitative survey of offender attributes. These results suggest that this area is a particularly important risk area for female offenders.

More female offenders are also primary caregivers of their young children immediately before and immediately after their release. Also, though these roles are important, they are often overlooked, leaving many women with little support for financial or emotional care provisions. Marital status, alongside poverty, child care, and low support may reinforce female economic marginality and financial dependence on others.

Victimization
Victimization is an important risk factor that affects female offenders much more than male offenders and in different personal and social ways. More female prisoners report experiencing trauma and abuse during their lives than male prisoners. In the Minnesota NIC project site, over 60% of the women in a Minnesota prison were victimized as children, adults, or commonly both. In this population, the most commonly reported types of abuse were domestic violence in adulthood and sexual and nonsexual abuse during childhood. These trends are not limited to adult women either. In a 2006 study looking at institutionalized youth in Ohio, researchers discovered that women were significantly more likely to have encountered sexual, physical, or verbal abuse. In a similar study looking at adult female offenders in an Ohio prison, over 54% of the sampled women had been raped, 11% had been gang raped, and over 70% had been forced into sexual experiences before they were incarcerated. The effects of increased victimization among female offenders are varied and long-lasting. Victimization can affect mental health, well-being, incite delinquency, serious mental health problems, revictimization, and criminal behavior. Many women also often turn to substance use, with many female offenders suffering from comorbid drug dependencies and mental health problems. Some researchers suggest that women turn to substance use to self-medicate or deal with the burden of victimization and accompanying mental health issues.

Mental Health
Many female offenders report struggling with some form of mental health problems. This has come to approximately 73% of female state inmates and 61% of female federal inmates, as opposed to 55% of male state inmates and 44% of male federal inmates. The same 2006 report also showed that many female offenders have either been diagnosed with a mental illness, hospitalized for a mental illness, or take prescription medications for mental illnesses at some point in their lives. Rates of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, alongside other mood disorders, are higher among female offenders than male offenders. According to another 2006 study, the most prevalent disorders among female prisoners include drug use disorder (57%), major depression (44%), post-traumatic stress disorder (36%) and psychosis (24%). These rates were significantly higher when compared to not only male prisoners in the area, but also when compared to females in the community. This suggests that there is a pattern found among these prisoners that may be linked to history of abuse. In some states like New Jersey, gender specific behavioral health treatments have helped improve the behavior of female inmates. These women most frequently reported needing mental health treatment while in prison. This program also did not prove to disrupt any behavior therapy received before intake. Women who partook in this study often reported having better access to treatment in prison than in their community, suggesting that treatment disparities may be a cause as to why women enter the prison system, as their lack of access may have turned them to criminal activity instead.

Substance abuse
Incarcerated women are significantly more likely than incarcerated men to have a severe history of substance and drug abuse. Approximately 20% of women prisoners suffer from alcohol use disorders while 57% of women prisoners suffer from drug use disorder. These are often paired with co-occuring mental disorders or trauma. While treatments that serve both men and women may be effective for women, gender specific programs are believed to be more effective when treating females, especially those with a history of trauma or abuse. A study conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons also found that incarcerated women used harder drugs and for different reasons then incarcerated men. Their difficulties linked to substance abuse often were the result of their educational background, childhood family environment, mental health and physical health. Men were more likely to report using drugs to induce pleasure or entertainment, while women often reported using drugs to alleviate physical or emotional pain. Most treatments have been historically based on male experiences, resulting in the standard treatment cantering around improving self-control and seeking pleasure through other experiences. These treatment plans often do not serve to target any trauma or pain that may be correlated with someone’s substance abuse. As a result, gender specific rehabilitation is thought to be more beneficial in aiding incarcerated women to live clean lives (Langan).

Queer and Trans politics
In discussing the relation between gender-responsive prisons and individuals who identify as gender non-conforming or transgender, research has been presented in bringing forth injustices within the prison setting. Research introduced has presented the term gender outlaws, a term in reference to individuals who do not commit to gender specific action. In the fight for Queer & Trans Politics, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project works with people regardless of their racial and gender background in ensuring a discrimination-free environment. One of their programs, the Prisoner Justice Project, provides low-income transgender people that are being involuntarily held in prison with key resources. These include life-sustaining resources and education for incarcerated transgender individuals, direct legal assistance to improve confinement conditions and decrease incarceration rates, systemic advocacy, and support for attorneys, advocates, and loved ones.

Rehabilitation
Studies have shown that women tend to use drugs as a form of self-medication for depression and anxiety, which result from traumatic childhood and adolescent experiences. Trauma often acts as a precursor to substance abuse in women, whereas in male offenders, trauma happens as a result of drug and substance abuse. Women offenders are 7 times ore likely to experience sexual abuse and 4 times more likely to experience physical abuse when compared to their male counterparts. Women offenders’ drug histories have been consistently linked to their histories of trauma and abuse, as a 2010 study indicated that 40.5% of women offenders and 22.9% of men offenders were found to have coexisting substance abuse and mental health problems. More specifically, there is a consistent link between psychological distress, especially with psychological illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among women who suffer from substance abuse in the criminal justice system. As a result, women offenders face a higher proportion of substance abuse disorders than male offenders. Saxena and Messina, Ph.D. scholars in the Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (ISAP) at UCLA, and Christine Grella, a professor for ISAP, argue that gender-responsive treatment's (GRT) multimodal approach allows for inclusivity in which the monolithic Therapeutic Community (TC) treatment lacks, as these treatments are historically male based .As a result, these traditional methods are thought to not properly treat females and other gender groups. These treatments are often centered around ways of strengthening self-control, not around their well-being or health.

Gender-responsive treatment (GRT) calls for clinically trained workers to establish a women-focused program where the aim is to facilitate rehabilitation and prevent drug relapse. The Helping Women Recover program is organized in four modules: self module, relationship module, sexuality module, and spirituality module. These modules serve to target and nurture several different areas in incarcerated women’s lives in order to provide them with the skills necessary to live a more successful life. Calhoun, Messina, Cartier, and Torres, members of Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (ISAP) at UCLA, discovered that incarcerated women expressed interest in learning the reasons for their drug use, specifically how their familial relationships and childhood traumas impacted their substance abuse, as they feel this allows them to understand and better control the root of their addiction. In addition, studies have shown that these women often benefit from trauma-informed interventions. These treatments show improvements in reducing symptoms of trauma and PTSD along with positive impacts on substance abuse. GRT has successfully controlled the presence of trauma and its association with substance use.

Health
Rates of substance abuse disorders, mental illness, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are higher among incarcerated women than in incarcerated men. In addition, the majority of incarcerated women are younger than 45 years old, signifying that they have specific reproductive healthcare needs. Incarcerated women have higher rates of gynecological conditions than nonincarcerated women, which have been linked to chronic stress that surrounds their lifestyles. This stress may be the result of unstable housing, poverty, trauma, etc. These women are also at a higher risk for cervical and breast cancer likely due to a lack of screening both while they are in prison and before they are arrested.

Another topic in gender responsive prisons is the healthcare and wellbeing of pregnant women who are incarcerated. At any given point in time, between 6-10% of incarcerated women are pregnant. Most of these pregnancies are considered high risk due to the physical and emotional disparities faced in prison. In many states, there exists a substandard care for pregnant incarcerated women. These gaps in healthcare include gaps in both maternal and neonatal care, including maternal and fetal health assessment, neonatal care and mental care. In most states, rest recommendations for the mother are not met or are instead compromised by other factors. There is also evidence that nutritional recommendations for a healthy pregnancy are not met by the meals provided by prison systems, suggesting that these pregnancies often go hand-in-hand with malnutrition. Lower bunks that allow better accessibility to these women are often not provided, and mental support and education is minimal. Along with these, there exists a practice that occurs among pregnant prisoners during childbirth known as “shackling,” which refers to the use of “any physical restrain or mechanical device [used] to control the movement of a prisoner’s body or limbs, including handcuffs, leg shackles, and belly chains”. These restraints pose risks both during and after the delivery of a baby, as they interfere with the ability to detect and treat complications. According to a 2017 study, 17.4% of facilities require the women to be handcuffed or shacked during delivery, and 56.7% of facilities shackle or restrain women hours after delivery. In addition to the health risks they pose, many find shackling to be a cruelty, even if the mother is a criminal. Often, it is seen by many as a form of abuse and a cause for trauma with incarcerated mothers. Restraining mothers is also seen by many, especially those outside of the United States, as unnecessary in addition to being cruel. However, many believe that restraints are necessary to prevent female prisoners from harming themselves or others or escaping. Twenty-four states have moved towards abolishing shackling or limiting their practical application, with the remaining states having no restrictions on its use. These findings indicate that there exists a healthcare gap among pregnant women that may be resolved by gender-responsive prisons.