Gender Responsiveness in Corrections- Enhancing Equity and Effectiveness

According to Schmalleger 2017, gender responsiveness involves adjusting practices and strategies in correctional facilities to accommodate the different life experiences and characteristics of the men and women imprisoned. Gender responsiveness was developed after critics pointed out that programs employed in the prisons for the male were also used in the prisons for females, overlooking the differences in their behaviors and social conduct. Hire our assignment writing services to save yourself tons of time and energy required for your assignment papers.

Gender responsiveness is essential in correctional facilities because it improves the female offenders’ aftermath by creating policies and consideration of their life experiences and history. Also, another important involves creating gender-responsive policies that will provide long-term advantages for the offenders, the criminal justice system, and the immediate community involved (Schmalleger, 2017).

The National Institute of Corrections gave several recommendations regarding gender responsiveness in prison. The first involves “The creation of an effective system for female offenders that is structured differently from a system for male offenders” (Schmalleger, 2017). This recommendation calls for acknowledging the different characteristics of men and women and structuring the correctional facilities to accommodate these differences. The most evident implementation of this recommendation is apparent in the Decatur (Illinois) Correctional Center, where a wing called the Mom and Babies Unit was created to accommodate mothers and their infants.

The second recommendation involves “The development of gender-responsive policies and practices targeting women’s pathways to criminality in order to provide effective interventions that address the intersecting issues of substance abuse, trauma, mental health needs, and economic marginality” (Schmalleger, 2017). This recommendation calls for the creation of gender-responsive policies and programs that target women. An example is evident in the creation of a program that allows newborns to live with their mothers in the Decatur (Illinois) Correctional Center (Schmalleger, 2017). Taking the newborns away from their mothers would cause trauma and mental health needs for the mothers and the children.

In conclusion, gender responsiveness facilitates better outcomes for the female offenders, improves on the criminal justice system and the community involved. Also, it has shown better outcomes in the offenders, as discussed above.