A review of the fourth section of the book “Criminal Injustice” by Elihu Rosenblatt which deals with the incarceration of women.
This paper analyzes the fourth section of Elihu Rosenblatt’ book Criminal Injustice which deals in particular with the clarification of gender issues and how these issues relate to prison reform. It examines how it addresses the particular stresses women face when exposed to punishment and the stresses of incarceration in the criminal justice system. It evaluates the misconceptions that often women’s prisons are viewed as easier or less stringent then men’s prisons and that women are less punished than men.
The women’s control unit featured highlights the difficulties women face in the real world of corrections. Women are judged not only as criminals, but also for their failure to obey certain societal, feminine norms as wives, mothers, or girlfriends. When women become judged as criminals, they are seen as not only forfeiting their rights as citizens, much like men, but also as forfeiting their rights as wives, mothers, girlfriends, daughters, etc. They, in essence, become viewed as nonpersons rather than individuals in need of rehabilitation, much less individuals still possessing a certain set of basic human rights. The controls set in action to monitor their behavior within a prison reflects this perception. Exposure to their children, for instance, is used as a method of control, when women have children.