Post by Greener on Jul 22, 2009 5:42:45 GMT -5
Indiana's female prison population surges
New drug laws, economy are among the reasons for 61% jump, experts say
By Francesca Jarosz
francesca.jarosz@indystar.com
When Rosalonie Reyna's check-kiting scheme crumbled, the fact that she was caring for three children did not keep her out of prison.
Instead of showing leniency toward Reyna because she is a woman, the judge sentenced her to 2 1/2 years in the Indiana Women's Prison.
Reyna, 34, feels the judge singled her out as an example, but among Hoosier women, Reyna's experience is growing ever more common.
The number of women in Indiana prisons increased 61 percent from 2000 to 2008, more than twice the national rate of increase and significantly higher than the rate of Hoosier men.
Precisely why this is happening is not clear, but experts cite several factors. Mandatory drug sentencing laws, a bad economy and a rising tide of prescription drug and methamphetamine arrests are among them.
Lurking behind the statistics, however, experts also see a broader societal change.
"The gloves have been taken off," said Natalie Sokoloff, a sociology professor at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice who has written books on female incarceration. "Some criminal justice people say, 'OK, women want equality; we'll give them equality.' "
The growth in Indiana has added pressure to a prison system already at 99 percent capacity. Earlier this month, the Department of Correction announced plans to move hundreds of prisoners to different facilities, in part to make room for the growing number of female inmates.
The number of women in prison still lags far behind men. As of earlier this month, there were 26,030 males and 2,451 females in DOC penitentiaries.
But some say the impacts of women's imprisonment are more drastic.
Medical care can be higher among female inmates because of issues such as pregnancy and gynecological needs, said Amanda Copeland, director of planning and research for DOC. About 26 women in DOC are pregnant, at a cost of $3,538 for medical care for each.
About 79 percent of women in Indiana prisons are identified as having a substance-abuse problem. But only about 16 percent of women receive treatment for addiction in prison, partly because the program is voluntary, but also because funding is limited.
"If we could hire more counselors, we would offer much more programming," Copeland said. "Right now we have very long waiting lists just because we don't have enough counselors to facilitate everybody."
Imprisoning women also takes a large toll on their children.
Christopher Wildeman is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of Michigan who has studied children of incarcerated parents. He said having a father in prison creates risks for children to have behavioral problems, but having a mother incarcerated poses potential for more severe issues, such as infant mortality, homelessness and foster care.
"When a father goes to prison, something certainly goes wrong, but it's not like everything falls apart," Wildeman said. "We should expect the effect of women imprisonment to be largest on outcomes that have to do with the most severe forms of disadvantage."
Reyna's children -- an 11-year-old girl, a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy -- are staying with their father.
Drugs and equality
The issues driving the growth don't appear to be letting up.
One apparent reason for the surge is the bad economy. In 2000 and 2008, the top two charges for which women were behind bars were theft and forgery, crimes that tend to increase, experts say, during periods of economic difficulty.
In Indiana, the number of women sent to prison for theft rose 76 percent from 2000 to 2008. There also was a 71 percent increase in forgery offenders.
Reyna is among the latter group.
In 2004, she lost her $50,000-a-year job as a hospital secretary. About the same time, the father of her three children lost his job and no longer was able to pay child support.
Desperate to maintain her lifestyle, which included a Fishers home, expensive interior furnishings and designer clothing, Reyna created a bank account and wrote herself checks in her own name. The routine lasted a year before she got caught.
"You get used to a certain lifestyle," Reyna said. "It's very hard to downsize."
In earlier years, a judge might have been more sympathetic to Reyna. But experts say changing societal perceptions of women, as well as an increase in female judges, have influenced women's treatment in the criminal justice system and contributed to their numbers there.
The change has been driven not only by culture but by policy. In particular, mandatory drug-sentencing laws enacted in the 1980s took some discretion away from judges about how much time to give offenders.
"It's not just that women have changed their behavior; it's not just that judges have changed their behavior," said Terry Baumer, director of criminal justice and public safety programs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. "Most of what's been going on is a change in the way we deal with criminal offenses."
In Indiana, changes in the law during the past 15 years have stiffened penalties for low-level drug offenses such as possessing drugs and paraphernalia, and those changes have had a disproportionate impact on women.
From 2000 to 2008, the number of women in Indiana prisons for cocaine or narcotic possession increased by 124 percent. The number of men also rose, but by a rate of 76 percent.
Possession of paraphernalia also leapt onto the list of the top 10 offenses landing women in prison in 2008, with 66 women incarcerated for that charge. For men, it was not among the top 20 charges.
Experts say women tend to be more affected by changes in those laws because, in the drug world, they are more vulnerable criminals than men.
"They are not sophisticated drug dealers with a lot of protection around them," said Stephanie Covington, co-director of the California-based Center for Gender and Justice. "If they're in the drug subculture, they're there as somebody's girlfriend."
Indiana's rise in the prevalence of drugs that women tend to abuse also appears to have made an impact. Research has shown that women outpace men in the use of painkillers and sedatives, and use methamphetamine at almost equal rates.
From 2000 to 2008, the number of women in prison for possessing or dealing prescription drugs almost tripled, to 140, as prescription drug abuse surged in the state. Thirty-one women were imprisoned for dealing methamphetamine.
Looking ahead
Prison officials are preparing for more of the same and exploring possible reforms. By shuffling inmates from the Indiana Women's Prison to the juvenile girls' facility in Indianapolis, they plan to accommodate the female inmate population for the next five to eight years.
They're also looking for longer-term solutions, such as job-skills training and other programs to keep women from re-entering.
Since 1989, the state legislature has passed more than 100 laws creating new crimes or stiffening penalties. Prison officials and those at the Criminal Justice Institute are reviewing the laws to determine whether they are appropriate.
Meanwhile, Reyna has a year left on her sentence. She is apprehensive about what she'll do after her release but has determined one thing: She won't return.
"I know what I'm capable of doing now," she said. "I just can't see myself coming back."
Additional Facts
Growing numbers
The surge of female inmates in Indiana has added pressure to a prison system already at 99 percent capacity.
Number of women in state prisons nationwide
» 2000: 76,647.
» 2008: 94,808.
» Percentage growth: 24 percent.
Number of women in Indiana prisons
» 2000: 1,447.
» 2008: 2,332.
» Percentage growth: 61 percent.
Number of men in Indiana prisons
» 2000: 18,364.
» 2008: 25,011.
» Percentage growth: 36 percent.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prison Inmates at Midyear 2008.
New drug laws, economy are among the reasons for 61% jump, experts say
By Francesca Jarosz
francesca.jarosz@indystar.com
When Rosalonie Reyna's check-kiting scheme crumbled, the fact that she was caring for three children did not keep her out of prison.
Instead of showing leniency toward Reyna because she is a woman, the judge sentenced her to 2 1/2 years in the Indiana Women's Prison.
Reyna, 34, feels the judge singled her out as an example, but among Hoosier women, Reyna's experience is growing ever more common.
The number of women in Indiana prisons increased 61 percent from 2000 to 2008, more than twice the national rate of increase and significantly higher than the rate of Hoosier men.
Precisely why this is happening is not clear, but experts cite several factors. Mandatory drug sentencing laws, a bad economy and a rising tide of prescription drug and methamphetamine arrests are among them.
Lurking behind the statistics, however, experts also see a broader societal change.
"The gloves have been taken off," said Natalie Sokoloff, a sociology professor at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice who has written books on female incarceration. "Some criminal justice people say, 'OK, women want equality; we'll give them equality.' "
The growth in Indiana has added pressure to a prison system already at 99 percent capacity. Earlier this month, the Department of Correction announced plans to move hundreds of prisoners to different facilities, in part to make room for the growing number of female inmates.
The number of women in prison still lags far behind men. As of earlier this month, there were 26,030 males and 2,451 females in DOC penitentiaries.
But some say the impacts of women's imprisonment are more drastic.
Medical care can be higher among female inmates because of issues such as pregnancy and gynecological needs, said Amanda Copeland, director of planning and research for DOC. About 26 women in DOC are pregnant, at a cost of $3,538 for medical care for each.
About 79 percent of women in Indiana prisons are identified as having a substance-abuse problem. But only about 16 percent of women receive treatment for addiction in prison, partly because the program is voluntary, but also because funding is limited.
"If we could hire more counselors, we would offer much more programming," Copeland said. "Right now we have very long waiting lists just because we don't have enough counselors to facilitate everybody."
Imprisoning women also takes a large toll on their children.
Christopher Wildeman is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of Michigan who has studied children of incarcerated parents. He said having a father in prison creates risks for children to have behavioral problems, but having a mother incarcerated poses potential for more severe issues, such as infant mortality, homelessness and foster care.
"When a father goes to prison, something certainly goes wrong, but it's not like everything falls apart," Wildeman said. "We should expect the effect of women imprisonment to be largest on outcomes that have to do with the most severe forms of disadvantage."
Reyna's children -- an 11-year-old girl, a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy -- are staying with their father.
Drugs and equality
The issues driving the growth don't appear to be letting up.
One apparent reason for the surge is the bad economy. In 2000 and 2008, the top two charges for which women were behind bars were theft and forgery, crimes that tend to increase, experts say, during periods of economic difficulty.
In Indiana, the number of women sent to prison for theft rose 76 percent from 2000 to 2008. There also was a 71 percent increase in forgery offenders.
Reyna is among the latter group.
In 2004, she lost her $50,000-a-year job as a hospital secretary. About the same time, the father of her three children lost his job and no longer was able to pay child support.
Desperate to maintain her lifestyle, which included a Fishers home, expensive interior furnishings and designer clothing, Reyna created a bank account and wrote herself checks in her own name. The routine lasted a year before she got caught.
"You get used to a certain lifestyle," Reyna said. "It's very hard to downsize."
In earlier years, a judge might have been more sympathetic to Reyna. But experts say changing societal perceptions of women, as well as an increase in female judges, have influenced women's treatment in the criminal justice system and contributed to their numbers there.
The change has been driven not only by culture but by policy. In particular, mandatory drug-sentencing laws enacted in the 1980s took some discretion away from judges about how much time to give offenders.
"It's not just that women have changed their behavior; it's not just that judges have changed their behavior," said Terry Baumer, director of criminal justice and public safety programs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. "Most of what's been going on is a change in the way we deal with criminal offenses."
In Indiana, changes in the law during the past 15 years have stiffened penalties for low-level drug offenses such as possessing drugs and paraphernalia, and those changes have had a disproportionate impact on women.
From 2000 to 2008, the number of women in Indiana prisons for cocaine or narcotic possession increased by 124 percent. The number of men also rose, but by a rate of 76 percent.
Possession of paraphernalia also leapt onto the list of the top 10 offenses landing women in prison in 2008, with 66 women incarcerated for that charge. For men, it was not among the top 20 charges.
Experts say women tend to be more affected by changes in those laws because, in the drug world, they are more vulnerable criminals than men.
"They are not sophisticated drug dealers with a lot of protection around them," said Stephanie Covington, co-director of the California-based Center for Gender and Justice. "If they're in the drug subculture, they're there as somebody's girlfriend."
Indiana's rise in the prevalence of drugs that women tend to abuse also appears to have made an impact. Research has shown that women outpace men in the use of painkillers and sedatives, and use methamphetamine at almost equal rates.
From 2000 to 2008, the number of women in prison for possessing or dealing prescription drugs almost tripled, to 140, as prescription drug abuse surged in the state. Thirty-one women were imprisoned for dealing methamphetamine.
Looking ahead
Prison officials are preparing for more of the same and exploring possible reforms. By shuffling inmates from the Indiana Women's Prison to the juvenile girls' facility in Indianapolis, they plan to accommodate the female inmate population for the next five to eight years.
They're also looking for longer-term solutions, such as job-skills training and other programs to keep women from re-entering.
Since 1989, the state legislature has passed more than 100 laws creating new crimes or stiffening penalties. Prison officials and those at the Criminal Justice Institute are reviewing the laws to determine whether they are appropriate.
Meanwhile, Reyna has a year left on her sentence. She is apprehensive about what she'll do after her release but has determined one thing: She won't return.
"I know what I'm capable of doing now," she said. "I just can't see myself coming back."
Additional Facts
Growing numbers
The surge of female inmates in Indiana has added pressure to a prison system already at 99 percent capacity.
Number of women in state prisons nationwide
» 2000: 76,647.
» 2008: 94,808.
» Percentage growth: 24 percent.
Number of women in Indiana prisons
» 2000: 1,447.
» 2008: 2,332.
» Percentage growth: 61 percent.
Number of men in Indiana prisons
» 2000: 18,364.
» 2008: 25,011.
» Percentage growth: 36 percent.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prison Inmates at Midyear 2008.