WOMEN'S IMPRISONMENT: The Effects of Youth Custody

• Published in: British journal of criminology 1986-10, Vol.26 (4), p.357-371
• Main Authors: Genders, Elaine, Player, Elaine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult education; Adults; Age; Criminal Justice Policy; Criminal sentencing; Criminals; Female Offenders; Great Britain; Prison Culture; Prison training programs; Prisoners; Prisons; Sentenced offenders; Young offenders
• ISSN: 0007-0955; 1464-3529
• DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a047627

The Criminal Justice Act of 1982 included a youth custody provision that has imposed fundamental changes in women's prisons in GB not mirrored in the penal system for men. The consequences of this new policy are explored on the basis of observation, analysis of prison records, & interviews with 254 women prisoners & 134 prison staff in 5 women's prisons between Oct 1982 & Oct 1984. The sharing of facilities by women of all ages did not produce significant age-mixing, as most women preferred to form friendships primarily within their own age group. Adult women acted in some ways to control the behavior of younger inmates, but their effectiveness was limited. Younger inmates were not subject to sexual advances from older inmates, but often learned new criminal techniques & were involved in drug abuse as a result of such contact. The new system has increased the power of the courts to sentence young women to custody, & they have readily used this power. Economic, historical, & ideological reasons for the adoption of the new policy are examined, & the idea of bonds between young adult women as providing a basis for encouraging acceptance of conventional values is seen as central to the decision. The policy debate has failed to address basic questions about the purposes of imprisonment & about differential treatment of men & women. W. H. Stoddard