Race And Gender Issues In The Correctional System
Race and gender issues have always impacted the correctional system. For many race was a determining factor that was based on an inmate’s treatment. If an inmate was white he/ or she would be treated with more respect. This was especially of the person had money. Many other things such as economic status and gender also were taken into consideration. “Some of the earliest descriptions of criminal law and depictions of correctional practice make clear that who one was demographically (class, race or ethnicity, gender) determined to a large extent how one was handled (Orland, 1995; Oshinsky, 1996; Reiman, 1998). Throughout history, in the earliest of legal codes (e.g., the Code of Hammurabi or the Justinian Code), in the English “Black Laws”
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It is thus telling that comparatively little attention has been paid to the prison experiences of minorities and women” (Dobrzanska,Johnson,Palla,2005). Minorities, blacks and woman are overrepresented in the correctional system. Many are deemed to systems where they are not worthy of rehabilitation. There are many women who are incarcerated that were charged and sent to prisons for minor drug felonies. “These racial disparities are long-standing and must be understood in historical context” (Dobrzanska,Johnson,Palla,2005). Race and gender has been an issue for a while within the correctional system. Although these prisons were not created with minorities due to slavery and other conditions, today minorities and women make up most of the prison population. “Since 1850, when the first [prison statistics] reports were published, the combined percentage of foreignborn persons, blacks and other minority groups incarcerated by the criminal justice system has ranged between 40 and 50 percent of all inmates present.” It is almost as if the prison treats minorities as interchangeable commodities. “As the percentage of foreign-born in our jails and prisons has declined, the proportion of blacks and Spanish-speaking inmates has increased” (Cahalan). Today woman in prisons face rape lack or rehabilitation and many other ill conditions. It is true that no one is forced into a life of crime regardless of race, color, gender, or creed and everyone has an opportunity to make rationale
It is thus telling that comparatively little attention has been paid to the prison experiences of minorities and women” (Dobrzanska,Johnson,Palla,2005). Minorities, blacks and woman are overrepresented in the correctional system. Many are deemed to systems where they are not worthy of rehabilitation. There are many women who are incarcerated that were charged and sent to prisons for minor drug felonies. “These racial disparities are long-standing and must be understood in historical context” (Dobrzanska,Johnson,Palla,2005). Race and gender has been an issue for a while within the correctional system. Although these prisons were not created with minorities due to slavery and other conditions, today minorities and women make up most of the prison population. “Since 1850, when the first [prison statistics] reports were published, the combined percentage of foreignborn persons, blacks and other minority groups incarcerated by the criminal justice system has ranged between 40 and 50 percent of all inmates present.” It is almost as if the prison treats minorities as interchangeable commodities. “As the percentage of foreign-born in our jails and prisons has declined, the proportion of blacks and Spanish-speaking inmates has increased” (Cahalan). Today woman in prisons face rape lack or rehabilitation and many other ill conditions. It is true that no one is forced into a life of crime regardless of race, color, gender, or creed and everyone has an opportunity to make rationale