Women in Prisons Who Have Children, or Who Have Had Children Whilst They Were in Prison - Essay Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: WOMEN IN PRISONS WHO HAVE CHILDREN, OR WHO HAVE HAD CHILDREN WHILST THEY WERE IN PRISON Aims This is true for every imperial, capitalist, socialist, communist, dictatorial, anarchist, feudal or fundamental state. Moreover, prisons are no different devoid of their location - Algeria or UK. In UK prisons, this discrepancy comes out in different forms. They have their own priority based on the every sect of human differences. This can include age, sex, sexual preference, colour, creed, belief, social stature- anything and maybe everything that could be taken into consideration. Thus, the aim of this paper is to understand the position of women in UK prisons particularly those women in prisons who have children, or who have had children whilst they were in prison. (Air, 156) Objectives The prime objective if this research is to 1. Evaluate the position of women in prisons who have children 2. Evaluate the position of women in prisons who have had children whilst they were in prison. 3. Understand the nature of discrimination against women in prisons who have children 4. Understand the nature of discrimination against women in prisons who have had children whilst they were in prison. Context and significance of the research There are multiple reports from the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The World Organization Against Torture, and Prison Watch Internationale, Paris that suggest there is a predominant mode of human rights violations within the boundaries of the UK prisons and these are mostly triggered by discrimination based on Sex, colour and creed. There are reports of torturing and abusing mentally ill patient too. In addition, it could not be just coincidence that 70% of the abuse and torture is targeted towards people of colour or women. Women and prisoners of unnatural sexual orientations suffer this fate, statistically. Thus, it could be concluded without much deliberation that the result of this biased behaviour would yield only more biased apprehension, as a product in this case, the UK prison. As a result, the context and significance of this research is vital from a sociological and humane perspective. (Air, 67-70) 2. Literature review Literature in the realm of research performed in the context of women in prisons who have children, or who have had children whilst they were in prison would be quite numerous and diverse in their content and methodology. In the different separate studies located, only few would have spanned a period beyond a decade. The majority of research pieces, which focus on the inclusion of the subject, would actually focus on the overall inmate segments through fundamental sociological levels. The fact that there are not very many advanced research items specifically directed toward the issue of conditions relating to women in prisons who have children, or who have had children whilst they were in prison particularly in UK would be the main focus of this dissertation. The most effective method of discussion and understanding the multitudes of studies conducted on the issue inclusion of theories and technology would be in the fact that we must first divide the process into manageable segments. These segments are self-divided within the research itself. Those pieces include divisions between inmates and guards and through administrative operations. The vast majority of the literature would be concentrated from the year 2000 through to the present, more than likely as advances in computer and other electronic technology has managed leaps and bounds in both affordability and availability. This is especially true for prisons across the country. The several research pieces brought into this literature review would in fact be between the years 2000 and 2006. One recognizable difference would be in the fact that literature which remains in the time span since the turn of the century would in fact be the speed, the accessibility and the overall development of systems and the internet itself. There are three major sources of crime data. These are the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR), the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). In accordance to the Consolidated Crime Chart of 1999, it was found that the amount of crime was on an increase in the UK by around 4% each year for the previous 10 years. It also reported that about 97%, the convicts were offenders of law and there were no doubt about their crimes committed. (CCC, 31) Crimes of only 3% of the individuals convicted were there any reason of doubt. (CCC, 47) However, the Consolidated Crime Chart of 1999 suggests that it is evident that individuals are charged only when there is a crime committed and despite of few human errors at the stage of the judicial system it can be stated that the entire procedure of crime, detection and punishment was virtually flawless. (CCC, 112) However, in this trial of truth it can be stated that the alternative methods of truth is believed to be well practice in the context of criminal justice system of today. It can be stated that this alteration of truth criminal justice system is most evident in the parameters of racism. A completely colour blind society is what that is most welcomed in a democratic form of government but despite every sort of constitutional rights and social enigma the curse of racism continues to dominate even the most developed and civilized states of the world. This racism is not only confined within the socio- economically backward section of the population but has crept into various strata of the society and institutions, no matter private or public, are no exceptions. (Lamb, 227-9) In this context, it would be interesting to mention the racial discriminations in a specific prison. Solano State Prison is a prison that exercises technology of the latest mode and is quite popular within the criminology fraternity. It can house about 6000 prisoners and enjoys a security level of II and III in accordance to its range of custodies. John Irwin chose as the site for his study related to racial discrimination within the framework of judiciary system. During the studies Irwin found out that longer termed woman prisoner i.e. prisoners sentenced more than 5 years were, though not brutalized, extensively harmed by the newer form of imprisonment and in most cases (about 90% of the selected population), the sufferer was woman with a child. (Lamb, 112) This form of penalizing the prisoners led to a future problem and the prisoners found it very difficult to coup up to the society outside the prison walls once they were released. It is obvious that there are specific grudges, due to their background, against these prisoners and the newer form of penalties are all well researched and impeccably implemented but the end words keep proving against these prisoners. This could be termed as discrimination against the prisoners serving a longer sentence than 5 years but in reality, it could be expressed as an experiment gone wrong. (Irwin, 2) Like most community linked organization, or in other words, organizations dealing with a lager number of members there bound to be some form of discrimination whether one likes it or not. However, the ideal situation is to place the discrimination under a certain amount of check in order to yield a long termed fruit for the organization or, more often than not, to survive. Down the line of history, there has not been a single instance in any society over every strata of governance where discrimination was not a part of the machinery. It has been further established that in many states guards have access to and are encouraged to review the inmates' personal history files (this includes any record of complaints against themselves or other prison authorities). Guards threaten the prisoner's children and visitation rights as a means of silencing the women. Guards issue rules-infraction tickets, which extend the woman's stay in prison if she speaks out. Twenty-five correctional departments may place women who report custodial sexual misconduct in solitary confinement. This issue, put forward by Amnesty International UK, is one of the most important matters that the authorities must look into to avoid further misgivings by the international fraternity of Human Rights Activists. (AIR, 89) In the conclusion it should be mentioned that as an individual on behalf of the present generation and that on a moral ground the importance of truth remains important and it is due to be expressed and published no matter how harsh the reality remains. It could be ascertained that this truth should be composed and restored as an element of individual justification. This means that one should be justified in terms of truth to oneself even if it means that by doing so one has to identify the menace of racism even in the context of judiciary system. The human dignity is to be taken into consideration. This in relation to truth and justice and one must always be true, clarified and justified to the personal self. This is the importance of truth and the value of truth and the rest depends on the survival strategies in the modern world. (Berkowitz, 67-8) 3. The proposed research One of the primary ways in which women in prisons who have children, or who have had children whilst they were in prison is defined is in terms of its difference from the so-called 'pure sciences' such as physics, chemistry or biology. Its use of theory and methodology is, closely related to this distinction. Academics of marketing often emphasize what too many of us are utterly obvious, that there is no certainty in the study of social sciences. This is because it not only deals with social variables but also it deals with humanity, which is inherently transient. Taking this element of transience into consideration social scientists has to use not just quantitative but also qualitative methods of study. For this study of women in prisons who have children, or who have had children whilst they were in prison both the methods would be used. The best statistical method would be to interview long well formulated day-to-day working procedure at a specific and well-selected location. Throughout the procedure, it should be noticed whether there are specific variables within the testable population or not. These variables would be extremely important while evaluating the basic data in the final stages where the adjustments would be made to the formulated data in accordance to the observations. However, it is important to take into account the aspects of fundamental variables of an individual such as ethnicity, religious belief or positive support from the administrative structure of the management and individual. It is necessary to design a new experiment that test the statistical method. For the purpose, it is necessary to collect a complete data of the site that would include different religion or ethnicity. An open meeting with subjects would be very relevant in this context but only the longer term serving women limits should be taken into account in the initial stages. This is because only upper sections are the groups that are most likely to provide better inputs for the research. 4. Research design Being open to qualitative methods of study also allows social scientists to incorporate non-quantitative data (i.e. non-numerical data, such as words, images, gestures, impressions etc.) in their study. Since human beings tend to operate in terms of such data and not in terms of the terminology used in ordinary sciences this broader outlook is far more applicable in the study of social sciences. In keeping with the methodology employed in marketing researches the theories too are formulated and used keeping in mind that they are not necessarily applicable to all conditions. Be it psychology, history, political science or economics human events are most likely to influence the rules which define the basic theories of a social subject. Success in the field of social researches can therefore be achieved if and only if it is understood that the subject has no space or opportunity for watertight methodologies or theories. It can always be stated that Qualitative research is a process that includes interpretative paradigm under the measures of theoretical assumptions and the entire approach is based on sustainability that is depended on people's experience in terms of communication. It can also be mentioned that the total approach is because reality is created on the social formulations. It can also be mentioned that the basic target of qualitative research is instrumented towards social context under normal circumstances where it would be possible to interpret, decode and describe the significances of a phenomenon. The entire process is operational under the parameter of interpretative paradigm that can minimize illusion and share subjectivity under contextualization, authenticity and complexity of the investigation. The basic advantages of qualitative measures are multifold. Firstly, it presents a completely realistic approach that the statistical analysis and numerical data used in research based on quantitative research cannot provide. Another advantage of qualitative measures is that it is more flexible in nature in terms of collected information interpretation, subsequent analysis and data collection. It also presents a holistic point of view of the investigation. Furthermore, this approach of research allows the subjects to be comfortable thus be more accurate as research is carried on in accordance to the subject's own terms. All these variables are considered as very relevant and important features of the statistical method and it is to be seen if these aspects are fundamentally acceptable in practical world and it could well be mentioned that service, especially e commerce service industry, are a very relevant manifestation of the social dimensions. As a result, if the test is carried out in a proper manner with proper calculations of the population involved then there is no reason that the results would be both logical and true at the end consideration. However, it could be stated that the most basic distinction is between a quantitative or qualitative evaluation. In a quantitative evaluation, the purpose is to come up with some objective metric of human performance that can be used to compare interaction phenomena. This can be contrasted with a qualitative evaluation, in which the purpose is to derive deeper understanding of the human interaction experience. A typical example of a quantitative evaluation is the empirical user study, a controlled experiment in which some hypothesis about interaction is tested through direct measurement. A typical example of a qualitative evaluation is an open-ended interview with relevant users. As a result, this method would be used widely. As descriptions of statistical methods that will be used it could be stated that in order to isolate the results for this particular study, only a survey questionnaire done would have been utilized. These questionnaires would be delivered to potential customers and retailers along with the administrators of different companies. The results were divided into these same categories to ensure validity and reliability. General information in regard to identifiers was utilized in order to ensure that there would be no bias. This information provided the researcher with a more clarified view of perceptions in regard to the possibility and condition of prisons in UK. The variables involved would also include age groups, amount of education, and understanding of security needs and responsibility. Each question had either a 'yes' or a 'no' answer or followed positive or negative reactions to certain questions. The process to deliver and collect these questionnaires would be spanned around approximately two weeks. The interviews and questioners would certainly include the Administrators, guard, prison experts, Scholar, and inmates. In this context, it should also be mentioned that the purpose of the project is formulated in a mutually beneficial way such that from an academic perspective there would be a huge gain in the context of valuable experience, and simultaneously add value by providing insights as well as a fresh & objective outlook on any matter relevant to the organization. 5. Timetable Tasks/Weeks W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 Literature Review x x x Conduct Interviews/Collect data x x x Transcribe Interviews x x Analyse Data x x X Draft Final Report X x Feedback x Submit Final Report x x Week Beginning (Date) It is understood, that that this proposed timetable allows enough time for each of the tasks to be completed. The timetable shows a proposed completion date that is one week before the official submission date and this is to ensure that any unforeseen problems can be addressed. 6. Ethical considerations and a risk assessment Factors that manage approval of studies such as this one in regard to women in prisons who have children, or who have had children whilst they were in prison would include the verifiable reports of discrimination or mismatch by agencies including senior inmates, guards, administrators and fellow inmates. The rise in differences and such provide a very thorough glance into the behaviour of subjects. Reactions can also be generated that behaviour in the use of prison and its significance on human rights paradox is affected by their ready knowledge of self-positioning along with related facts and figures. The researcher finds that the hypotheses made in the progression of the research would indeed have been validated through responses from the selected population. This further approves the necessity for further study and research into methods toward equilibrium in the environment relating to women in prisons who have children, or who have had children whilst they were in prison. Works Cited Consolidated Crime Chart. Reports: Consolidated Crime Chart of 1999. Christchurch: DRL Publication Ltd. 2000 Lamb, Davis; Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; Wellington: National Book Trust. 2004 Goddard, J. Modern Principals of Criminology. Sydney: Howard & Price. 2006 Davis, Angela. Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex. ColorLines. thirdworldtraveler.com. Fall 1998. Retrieved on 27.04.2008 from http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Prison_System/Masked_Racism_ADavis.html Irwin, John. The Warehouse Prison: Disposal of the New Dangerous Class. New York: Roxbury Pub Co, 2005 Amnesty International report. Amnesty International Report. Dunedin: Alliance publications. 1999 Amnesty International USA, Sexual Assault and Misconduct against Women in Prison. Dunedin: Alliance publications. 2005 Berkowitz, Leo; Man and Truth; Vol. II New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 2006 Read More