336 12 Corrections and Prison Practices—Family Forensicsit deems incarceration a necessary remedy. Due largely to the "War on Drugs,"
California prisons actually showed a decrease in their percentage of violent offenders
from 1985 to 1991, while their percentage of substance abuse offenders doubled
(California Department of Corrections, 1991). As depicted in the case of Nancy,
the majority of women prisoners are incarcerated as a result of drug-related crimes.
Thus, it is clear why this population has been particularly affected by the new laws
which require stifFer sentences for drug offenses.
Given the recent influx of women prisoners nationwide, it is important to look
at the overall impact that such a movement has on society. First, there are numerous
psychological considerations that pertain to incarcerated women that do not per-
tain to incarcerated men. Boudin (1998) identifies three central issues that women
prisoners encounter during their period of confinement. Since the vast majority
of women inmates are mothers, the issue of parenting permeates throughout all
three of these core concerns. First, Boudin claims that a woman's personal trau-
matic experiences that occurred prior to incarceration have dramatic effects on her
life choices before, during, and after confinement. The U.S. Department of Justice
(1994) reports that over 40% of incarcerated women report a history of physical
or sexual abuse. Fletcher, Rolison, and Moon (1993) report that the typical female
prisoner was sexually abused in childhood by a male member of her immediate
family. While Boudin (1998) agrees that there is a high prevalence of physical, sex-
ual, and emotional abuse in the lives of women prisoners, she reports that there are
very few opportunities for women to receive help in resolving such matters during
the time they are incarcerated.
Second, Boudin (1998) states that women experience a great deal of shame
and guilt as a result of their life choices and experiences. For example, Boudin
reports that many women in prison have lives filled with years of substance abuse
and addiction. As a result of their addictions, the women do not care for then-
children in an appropriate manner, expressed through abuse or neglect. According
to Boudin, this results in shame and guilt among women prisoners as they reflect
on their lives during their period of incarceration. Similar to those women who
have been traumatized by physical or sexual abuse, those women who are addicted
to drugs or alcohol rarely receive treatment during their period of confinement.
Third, most women prisoners who are mothers experience grief as a result of
being separated from their children. Watterson (1996) reports that 80% of women
m prison are mothers. The case of Nancy depicts a common scenario in that
85%> of women prisoners had custody of their children prior to their incarcera-
tion (Watterson, 1996). An additional 6—9% of incarcerated women are pregnant
upon entering prison (U.S. Department of Justice, 1994). As a result, hundreds
of thousands of children have lost their mothers to penal confinement (Reed &
Reed, 1998). The experience of delivering a child during a period of incarceration
is particularly traumatic. Since prisons are not equipped to handle childbirth, preg-
nant prisoners are sent to a local hospital to give birth and are then immediately
separated from their babies and returned to prison (Watterson, 1996). The lack of