War on Women In the media the faces of men are plastered on the news detailing the crimes they have committed, and we either sit in complete awe or we are disgusted by the sensationalism of their crimes. What we normally do not see are their female counterparts, and yet women represent a significant amount of those incarcerated. There are women who have cold heartedly harmed another, some have either neglected to care for their own children or might have even killed them, so it is agreed that their just dues is to be prosecuted for those crimes. However there is a rise of women who are currently sitting in prison due to committing crimes while under the influence. They have committed certain crimes in order to support chemical dependence or committed a crime while on drugs. The criminal justice system has placed them in jail instead of placing them in rehabilitative institutions. The percentage of women imprisoned on drug related crimes range around 35% and the remainder fall in the areas of property and violent crime (Bloom & Owen & Covington, 2004). Of course these numbers vary from state to state, but statistically women are being incarcerated for being on drugs more frequently then men are. It appears that women are more prone to arrests for drug related crimes then their male counterparts. Do I believe that the war on drugs is a war on women? Although I do not believe it is intentional, the proof is apparent in how many women are sitting in prison due to drug related crimes. Gender responses play a role in how people deal with life, and men tend to be more outwardly aggressive, but women respond to the strains in life quite differently. Understanding the distinctions society places between men and women create a lot of circumstances that may make women feel unseen. We are in a culture where males dominate,
Midterm Pt.2 2 and women are considered second class, and this thought pattern has to been the quiet element that women continue to fight (Bloom, Owen & Covington, 2004). The increased incarceration of women has become more about legalities and policies that support more punishment then rehabilitation. Addressing the social perspective or the cause for the behavior has become the least of concerns for the criminal justice system. Ignoring the circumstances however does not make the underlying cause disappear, it actually magnifies it. There are so many criminological theories on male criminality and not enough that correctly addresses female criminality, and for those that have posed their theories, the comparisons are incorrectly based or sexist (Bloom, Owens & Covington, 2004). Women have fought so long for equality that it has apparently worked against us to some degree when it comes to sentencing. Prison should be the last resort when addressing addictions. Secondly, the war on drugs is a war on women because it does not address the help these women need. Although this is somewhat outdates, a survey taken in 1997 from both state and federal level showed that 74% of the female inmates admitted to daily use of drugs, whereas 62% admitted to using drugs before they commission of a crime (Mauer, Potler, & Wolf, 1999). What is not being addressed are the mental state of these women, and the personal demons that are driving them. Many of these women have experienced extreme abuse, either as children or in adulthood. Again, this survey only emphasized this where 57% of women in state prisons experienced physical and sexual abuse, and 33% were raped before their incarcerations (Mauer, Potler & Wolf, 1999). The women who suffered physical and sexual