Detailed Comparison: Living Standards in Male and Female Prisons

This essay delves into the differences between male and female prisons, exploring various aspects of prison life. It begins by highlighting the disparities in incarceration rates between genders, setting the stage for an examination of the varying living standards. The essay discusses mortality rates, health needs, and the physical environments of male and female prisons. It references the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, emphasizing the need for gender-specific accommodations, such as prenatal and postnatal care for women. Security protocols, including restrictions on male personnel in women's prisons, are also compared. The essay concludes by attributing these differences to perceived gender differences and the varying nature of crimes committed by each gender, suggesting that correctional institutions are often structured to reflect these perceptions and offer different opportunities for rehabilitation.

Running head: COMPARISON BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE PRISON
Comparison between male and female prison
Name of the Student
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Author Note

1COMPARISON BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE PRISON
Life in prison is quite hard. People are incarcerated there as a result of certain crimes they
have committed (Falk et al., 2017). While no gender discrimination is made when a judgment is
passed, the life in prison with respect to the men and women gender varies widely. This is so
because of certain guidelines of the prisons themselves where the guards are required to tackle
the prisoners in a manner which is conducive to their gender identity (Olson, Stalans, and
Escobar, 2016). This essay seeks to understand the differences in the living standards of the men
and women in the prison and their social life in the prison. The essay concludes with
understanding the reason behind the prevalence of such differences.
According to the United States of America incarnation rates, 2010, 126 females per 1000
were incarcerated while 1352 per thousand males were incarcerated (Prison Initiative). This
discrepancy follows from the view point that in a situation of crime, it is usually often the male
who is likely to cause the crime (Rafter, 2017). Women are often considered to be the weaker of
the two genders and hence, the police believe that they cannot be the one to commit any crimes.
It is this view point of the authorities of the state which has brought about many differences in
the standard of living of the two genders.
One of the leading differences in the standard of life as experienced by the men and
women in the prison is that of the mortality rates between the two. A research study was
conducted on the men who were imprisoned in Texas between 1992 and 2003. In the study, it
was revealed that the various causes of death among the men were cardiovascular diseases,
infections and even cancer. Many of the male prisoners were also infected by AIDS. The
prevalence of this cause can be noted from the fact that the environment of the male prisons are a

2COMPARISON BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE PRISON
lot more unhygienic than the prisons which hosts the female prisoners. Moreover, the health
needs of the women are also different from that of the male population, whether they are
prisoners or non-prisoners. As a consequence, it is necessary that the women prisoners should be
living in a cleaner and hygienic environment when compared to the prisons of the male
population.
Another difference in the standard of living in the prisons belonging to the two genders
has been enumerated by the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners ("U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners"). According to the
guidelines, it has been stated that the women prisons must necessarily have certain special
accommodation for the women such as pre-natal care and post-natal treatment. There can be
instances where a pregnant mother is imprisoned for her crimes (Benning and Lahm, 2016).
However, care needs to be taken that the taint of the mother’s crimes should not be reflected on
the character of the child. In this sense, the prison should ensure that at the time of delivery of
the child, it should be done at a nearby hospital from the prison ("U.N. Standard Minimum Rules
for the Treatment of Prisoners"). Furthermore, if the child is born in the prison then this
information should not be mentioned in any document such as the birth certificate of the child.
With respect to security of the prison, certain important differences can also be noticed.
In a prison for women, no male personnel is allowed to enter unless he is accompanied by a
female officer. Moreover, the women prisoners are required to be supervised only by women
personnel for their own safety and level of comfort. For here, it can be observed that more
attention has been paid to the level of safety and comfort of the women prisoners than the male
prisoners. No restrictions as such as in existence in the cases of the male prisoners.

3COMPARISON BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE PRISON
In conclusion, it can be observed that the differences in the organization of the male and
the female prisons and the corresponding differences in the standard of life between the two is
due to the prevalence of the characteristics of such institutions which follows from the perceived
gender differences. The male prisoners are seen to be committing more serious crimes while the
female prisoners are conceived to be under pressure while committing a crime. As a result, the
correctional institutions are set up according to this thought process where the female prisons are
given more chances to rectify themselves.

4COMPARISON BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE PRISON
References:
"U.N. Standard Minimum Rules For The Treatment Of Prisoners." Hrw.org. N.p., 2019. Web. 18
Apr. 2019.
Benning, Carin L., and Karen F. Lahm. "Effects of parent–child relationships on inmate
behavior: A comparison of male and female inmates." International journal of offender
therapy and comparative criminology 60.2 (2016): 189-207.
Falk, Örjan, et al. "Personality and trait aggression profiles of male and female prison
inmates." Psychiatry research 250 (2017): 302-309.
Initiative, Prison. "Incarceration Rates By Gender." Prisonpolicy.org. N.p., 2019. Web. 18 Apr.
2019.
Olson, David E., Loretta J. Stalans, and Gipsy Escobar. "Comparing male and female prison
releasees across risk factors and postprison recidivism." Women & Criminal Justice26.2
(2016): 122-144.
Rafter, Nicole. Partial justice: Women, prisons and social control. Routledge, 2017.