The Imprisonment of African American Women
| The Imprisonment of African American Women: Causes, Conditions, and Future Implications | |
| http://www.videri.org/index.php?title=File:The_Imprisonment_of_African_American_Women.png | |
| Author(s) | Catherine Fisher Collins |
|---|---|
| Publisher | McFarland & Company, Inc. |
| Publication date | 1997 |
| Pages | 152 |
| ISBN | 0-7864-0263-6 |
Collins' book The Imprisonment of African American Women: Causes Conditions and Future Implications pulls together scarce, fragmented, and scattered information from many social sciences and scientific fields in an attempt to better understand how the criminal justice system has failed this segment of the population. This book also investigates the gaps that exist in the limited body of literature and statistical data regarding African American female offenders. (1)
Collins starts off with the history of the penal system in the United States. Its origins came from England, but it was not until 1553 when Edward VI named the facilities “houses of corrections.” (4) Many of the American settlers were former prisoners. Religious beliefs became the rule over most prisons as colonial societies developed, which applied to women more harshly. The first penal institution to be built in the colonies were jails. As slavery became an imperative part of the US south, jails for blacks rarely existed due to the loss of profit for whites if their slaves were incarcerated. “Negro Court” did exist, however plantation owners were judge, jury and in some cases executioner. (6) In these courts none of the crimes were applicable to whites many of whom had committed the same crimes. It was not until the Civil War ended that large numbers of blacks were incarcerated. Prisons were not built to house women explicitly until 1825, before women were kept in the same facilities as men. Even with these separate facilities black and white women were segregated. The idea behind the segregation was so white women could be reformed. It was believed that white women could be rehabilitated whereas black women could not, because they lacked the ability.
The bulk of prisons had been built between 1930 and 1966, but it was not until the 1980s when the US government began allocating billions of dollars to increase the number of beds in the penal system. Furthermore, private prison ventures massively increases. The first women’s prison opened in 1927 in Alderson, West Virginia. Women of color steadily increased the prison population, but it was not until the 1980s with the war on drugs that the prison population doubled almost overnight.
The most overwhelming statistics showed most African American women were over represented in the penal system because of their lack of resources and lower class status in society that began during slavery and had persisted into current day. African American women were undereducated, underemployed, and the primary care taker of children. Once incarcerated they were given fewer resources and last thought about when it came to research and studies, due to the lack of African American women who study criminology and would have a common interest in that population, according to Collins. Collins believed that if there were more African American women studying black women’s incarceration more action would be taken on their behalf. Collins also discussed the lack of reports or the incomplete reports that were done by whites as an explanation of African American women’s crimes. Most were done in a time of extreme racism and made statements of high incarceration due to larger skulls and smaller brains. If African American women were not looked at racially they were not looked at in any form.
Collins discussed the types of crimes that were most closely associated with African American women. She showed that African American women tend to most often be associated with drugs, however white women were more greatly associated with drug use, but were charged less often. African Americans in general were more highly associated with homicide at all ages. Statistics showed African American women who were involved in violent crimes tended to be those who killed a boyfriend, husband, or partner who had physically abused them. Collins also addressed the fact that once African American women were behind bars they were not safe from abuse. Many women experienced abuse from guards once incarcerated. African American women dealt with the threat of lost privileges which only isolated them more. The threat of lost phone privileges, mail, and visitations put women at the mercy of guards, who took advantage of women who already lacked a sense of self-worth.
African American women who were incarcerated tended to leave behind children who in turn were displaced. Collins portrayed what happened to the children who were left behind. A few ended up living with a relative such as a grandmother or aunt. The majority, however, ended up in foster care where they were cut off from their mothers. In some cases the court would forfeit parental rights allowing for children to be adopted, and mothers would never see their children again. There were negative effects on the children as well. Children of incarcerated parents were more likely to become incarcerated as juveniles. Some kids fell deeply depressed because they experience the loss of that parent as if it were a death. Collins highlighted some prisons that have programs that allowed women to mother from the inside. These programs allowed mothers to keep in contact with their children and in some cases even allowed for physical contact with their children. There were classes that helped mothers to become better care takes.
Next Collins illustrated what the health of African American women incarcerated looked like. Most women who were incarcerated were not in the greatest of health before they entered the penal system and the health care provided within was less than satisfactory. Women’s prisons were funded last, therefore whatever was left out of the budget after the men’s prisons got what they needed went to women’s prisons. This tended to leave women’s health needs overlooked. Women have health needs that men do not and in a male dominated area women’s needs are often disregarded. There were far fewer substance abuse programs offered to incarcerated women. Furthermore, African American and Hispanic women suffered from AIDS at higher rates than any other group and little to no treatment was offered for their illness.
Collins wrapped up the book by making a list of recommendations to better accommodate African American women. She recommended there be meaningful and transferable skills and training for prisoners. The justice systems needed to work harder on rehabilitating its inmates rather than creating harder and better criminals. Collins also believed it would be more humane for women affected with AIDS to be placed on house arrest rather than making them suffer behind bars with little to no medical treatment. Collins made several recommendations about women and their children such as parenting classes, better efforts from the Justice Departments to keep mothers close to their children, and allow women who have small children to be on house arrest. Finally Collins believed there needed to be a much greater effort made by the Justice Department to higher African American women and men within jails and prisons.
