The United States in recent times has seen the sudden rise of females in our prison systems. This is most solely due to the introduction of the Rockefeller Laws and its guidelines of mandatory minimum sentencing of criminals for specified crimes. The law was designed to reduce bias in the ever volatile world of race relations and eliminate harsher sentencing for equal crimes based on color. In the female world, consideration of possible mitigating circumstances surrounding an individuals' crime has been taken away from the presiding judge's discretion. Important factors are not allowed to enter in the decision process such as why the crime was committed and by who.

A women who drops out of school. Idiot!

After many minutes of deep thought, I can only think of one compromise to the situation. Rewrite the law books to separate nonviolent and violent offenders when sentenced. Different prisons for different crimes and terms of sentence. Lifers, murders, and rapists are imprisoned in punishment type prisons to adequately terminate any social outlets they have, no contact with anything but agonizing free time to think when hard labor is not being served. Non-violent, and perhaps abusers (in the sense of child batters, wife beaters) could be better served in institutions that both provide education and mandate it to be released. They should also provide counseling for those with physically abusive natures and obviously drug addiction. Providing group therapy for those who abused relatives and/or their loved ones. Reinstating a self worth and skills to survive on when the sentence comes to the end, while providing a proper atmosphere for the inmate to fully understand what they have done and why they are there.

Physical differences were highlighted in a paragraph discussing chain gangs. Individuals from male chain-gangs were initiating lawsuits of unfair treatment because women were not required or even allowed for that matter to participate in these excursions. The state this lawsuit was brought against was Alabama. They then created a women's chain gang to eliminate the lawsuits. Chesney-Lind seemed to think this ridiculous. I believe it was the right choice by the state. Women do not need to match the work of the male inmate, but must do similar work in their own capacity, for example women should not be required to lift the same amount of weight, but should be required to exert comparable amounts of physical energy.

Physical abuse and early childhood abuse were debated by Chesney-Lind as a difference that is taken into consideration when comparing male versus female incarceration. According to her article, 43 percent of women surveyed reported they had been abused at least once before their current admission to prison. Males given the same survey resulted in only 12.2 percent reporting abuse. From my psychology background I can easily state that men are 45 percent less likely to admit sexual abuse, and a fair amount of those physically abused do not recognize it as abuse. I also present the question, "Are you not ultimately responsible for your own actions?" If you can not control these actions, regardless of the reason why, you are a threat to society, therefore in need of correction.

As they stand now, women incarcerated are not having their needs met in regards to having their problems, often responsible for incarceration, addressed by the system. For the most part, limited funds are given by the government to fund the programs addressing these issues, whether they be drug addiction clinics within the walls, or therapy to help women avoid destructive relationships. Chesney-Lind states that every dollar spent lo

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Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)