1PENOLOGY Introduction Punishment is the penalty that is inflicted upon any individual as a form of retribution towards any offence. Punishments can be categorized into four types- retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation. Imprisonment is a form of incapacitation (Cavadino and Dignan 2006). The term imprisonment can be described as the act of the confinement of any individual in a prison or jail as a penalty for any kind of misdemeanour carried out by way of the court. There have been many controversies related to the prison policies in the United Kingdom. One of the major controversies is the underrepresentation of the gender bias in the prison system. The gendered painsof imprisonmentare often seen asbeing majorly underrepresented (Carlen 2002). There are many debates among the scholars about the existence of difference in the treatment between men and women in the prison system. Many scholars can be observed as to be of the opinion that there should be difference in treating men and women because of the seriousness of their offences. Many scholars can also be seen as opining that as women are less threatening to the society then the men they should be punished in a different manner (Carlen 2017). The main aim of the paper is to discuss about the issues related to the gender bias in the prison systems in the United Kingdom. The paper would also discuss the chivalry theory and the evil woman theory in relation to the topic. Gender based Theories in Imprisonment The term imprisonment can be described as the state of being confined or incarcerated physically in any kind of institutional setting like a prison or a jail. In England and Wales the guidelines for the sentence of imprisonment are provided by way of theCriminal Justice Act 2003.Manycontroversiescanbeobservedasexistinginrelationtothepainsof imprisonment in the United Kingdom (Carlen 2002). For the analysis of the imprisonment pains that exist in the modern times, it is of utmost importance for going beyond bodily
2PENOLOGY sufferings which are considered as to be disappeared a long time ago. However, some less accurate hurt like the deprivation of liberty or goods and services or the sexual desire frustrations have replaced bodily hurt. Although these deprivations are considered to be an obligatory insinuation of imprisonment, yet, they are also required to be recognized as equally painful as the physical pains they have replaced. One of the major controversies is the underrepresentationofthegenderbiasintheprisonsystem.Thegenderedpainsof imprisonment are often seen as being majorly underrepresented. There has been a lack of statistical evidence for the claims that women are treated in a harsher way than men. There are many debates among the scholars about the existence of difference in the treatment between men and women in the prison system. Many scholars can be seen as opining that as women are less threatening to the society then the men they should be punished in a different manner. Many scholars can also be observed as to be of the opinion that there should be difference in treating men and women because of the seriousness of their offences (Carlen 2017). There have also been arguments that the experience of imprisonment is more traumatic for women than it is for the men. The society can be seen acting in a more tolerable way towards the women than the men even before they have been imprisoned. This can be explained by way of the chivalry theory. As per the chivalry theory, the police, judges, magistrates or other prosecutors can be seen as treating women more leniently because of their paternalistic or chivalrous behaviour towards the gender association(Carlen 2013). Women are considered more as erroneous preys than to be as infuriated convicts. Women are also supposed to be avoiding the pains associated with incarceration because men are considered to be acting chivalrous and therefore, the either forgive or ignore the deviant nature of the women (Heidensohn 1996). In cases where the women are just provided with a mere caution, the men can most likely be observed to be given sentences of imprisonment. The main reason behind this is that the
3PENOLOGY society views the women as nurturers and not as the disturber of the nature. The societal association can be observed as discouraging women from behaving indecently. As per this theory, the women are required to be controlled by way of the role of either a mother or a wife that they have been given and which can be observed to be labelling them as being more passive and conventional than the men (Heidensohn 1989). Their roles as mothers and wives are believed to be binding them to the home environment which will further result in the women being provided with fewer opportunities for the commitment of crime. The main argument in the theory is that the women should be considered as being subordinate to the men in any given framework of patriarchy and henceforth the men are required to be established to be the protectors of the women as the men are in possession of composure, intellect and dignity of a greater virtue than the women. The women, contradictorily, have beenconsideredasbeingweak,unstableemotionallyandfragileinamentalway (McLaughlin and Muncie 2013). In contradicting the chivalry theory, the ‘evil woman’ theory can be seen as stating that women are more often than not punished with harsher sentences because of the association of women in the behaviour that are considered as being less feminine. The theory can be seen as originating from Puritanism. As per the ideals of this theory if the behaviour of any woman is in contradiction to the norms set by the society in accordance with her gender then she should be considered as evil and therefore are considered to be worthy of harsher punishments than men(Heidensohn 1996). As per this theory any woman who behaves in any way that contradicts the parameters that have been set towards the societal roles that are expected from the women, would be subject to harsher punishment for the breach of the ‘social contract’ that exist for behaviours that would be considered as feminine (Rusche and Kirchheimer 1939).
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4PENOLOGY Gendered Pain in Imprisonment Women who have been serving life imprisonment have always been rendered as being invisible entities in the studies in relation to the indeterminate imprisonments. Those studies on imprisonment were mostly limited due to their excessive focus on the male prisoners and as little attention as possible was given towards the gender issues (Chamberlen 2016). There have been a multitude of studies conducted towards the question that is raised in relation to the difference in the treatment between the male and the female population in the prison system. It has often been noted that although many of the women prisoners can be seen as being treated as they were men yet the experience they have are observed to be different majorly, which cannot be considered to be advantageous to them (Matthews 2009). One of the major problems faced by the women prisoners in the United Kingdom is that due to lack of female prisons in the country, women who are imprisoned are often seen as being imprisoned in a greater distance from their homes in comparison to their male counterparts. Because of this reason, many of the women can be seen as having problem in maintaining proper contact with their families as more often than not it can be seen that the families are not able to access time or travel cost for visiting the imprisoned female. The women in the prison can also be seen as being more stigmatized than the men. Another issue that can be raised in this context is that most of the prisons are equipped with the necessities of the male prisoners and can be seen as being very poorly equipped with the differing needs that the women might have (Crewe, Hulley and Wright 2017). The practices in the criminal justice system in relation to imprisonment can not only be considered to be imperfect but also to be oppressive and unjust in a major way. Statistics As per the reports in the year 2018, there have been almost 4,000 women in an approximate manner. In an average almost seven out of ten female inmates are sent to prison
5PENOLOGY for serving a sentence of up to six months maximum. There have even been imprisonments of the women for 30 days or less. Due to these short term imprisonments many women were seen as losing their jobs, any kinds of contacts with their families and children and often without any place to live. Comparing this to the male imprisonment rate it can be seen that for every single female prisoner there are an approximate of 20 male prisoners. Three main reasons can be seen as contributing to such difference in the numbers of male and female populations in the prisons in United Kingdom. The first contributory factor that can be considered is that the offenders sentenced to prison are mostly consisting of male offenders than that of the female offenders (Di‐Lustro 2004). In an average, longer sentences of imprisonment are given to men than to the female offenders. The third contributing factor can be observed as the fact that compared to the female inmates, the male inmates serves greater proportions of the sentences they receive. Conclusion In the current essay a detailed discussion has been conducted on the gender bias faced during imprisonment. The essay discusses in detail about the gendered pains existing in the prison system in the United Kingdom. The word ‘imprisonment’ can be labelled as the actions of the quarantine of any person in a reformatory or prison as a punishment for any kind of offense which are mostly carried out by way of the court. There have been numerous arguments amidst the researchers about the presence of dissimilarity in the handling of the men and women in the penal system. There have been debates among the scholars about whether the women deserve lesser punishments than men because of the seriousness of their offences. To discuss these dissimilarities, in the given context the essay provides the readers with two contradicting theories. The first theory is the chivalry theory, whose main idea is that the police, judges, magistrates or other prosecutors can be seen as treating women more lenientlybecauseoftheirpaternalisticorchivalrousbehaviourtowardsthegender
6PENOLOGY association. As per this theory the women are weak, unstable emotionally and fragile in a mental way and therefore they should be subordinate to the men and the men should, due to their superior composure, intellect and dignity, protect the women whose main role includes nurturing and being a mother and a wife. In contradiction to this, the essay provides the readers with the ‘evil women’ theory which states that women behaving outside the scope their acceptable behaviour should be punished severely and harshly. The essay also provides the readers with the bias that the women face in the UK prisons. In conclusion, it can be stated that the practices in the criminal justice system in regard to incarceration can not only be deliberated to be flawed but also to be oppressive and unfair in a major way. Therefore it can further be concluded that the pains of imprisonment are not always evenly distributed among the inmates especially in context to the gendered pains.
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