A War On Women And Drugs Criminology Essay

A War On Women And Drugs Criminology Essay In 1986 Congress passed mandatory minimum sentencing. Federal mandatory drug sentences take the decision away from the judge and gives sentences based on: 1. The type of drug; 2. The weight or alleged weight of the drug mixture and 3. The number of prior convictions. The rise of women in prison seems to be correlated with US drug laws and policies. Many researchers argue that the war on drugs has directly become a war on women. In 1999, the Bureau of Justice Statistics documented that 1 in 3 women were likely serving time for a drug offense in comparison to 1 in 8 women in 1986. Three reasons often determine the involvement of women in the criminal justice system, the first would be a history of abuse, the second issue is disrupted family and personal relationships and finally the third is drug abuse. Women that end up in prison have usually been abused and/or battered, are economically disadvantaged, have abused drugs, and/or are minorities. Due to the circumstances just mentioned and stricter policies and laws regarding drugs the outcome is a drastic rise in the incarceration of women. If women are seen as victims of circumstance then they are basically adapting to the conditions of their lives and struggling to survive. The status of women in prison reflects their status in society; they are marginalized by racism and sexism. Women in prison have been damaged by the oppression of patriarchy, economic marginalization and the far-reaching effects of such short sighted and detrimental policies as the war on drugs and the over reliance on incarceration, (Owen, 2000). Female Offenders Women have become the new offender in the criminal justice system. Through the years the amount of women incarcerated has greatly risen. In 2000, there were more than 1 million women in the United States in prison, probation or parole, whereas in 1990 there were 600,000 in the same situation. The rise in the incarceration of women can be greatly attributed to US policies and laws o n drugs and drug related crimes. Women are usually minimally involved in drug crimes but are severely punished due to the mandatory minimum laws in place. The war on drugs does not have laws laid out specifically for men and women, the laws are universal and apply equally to both men and women. Drug laws were originally designed for the male criminal and did not take into account the special circumstances in women’s lives. These women that are being punished under the mandatory minimum drug laws are the wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, granddaughters and girlfriends of many law abiding citizens in society. These women become involved in drug crimes because of their dependence to their significant other, whether it is financially, because of fear or other extenuating circumstance. Women who become victims of mandatory minimum laws are incarcerated and subject to patriarchal sentences because the men in their lives coerced, obliged or scammed them into carrying drugs . Women in jails and prisons are often oppressed and even victimized. There are many race and gender inequalities in the criminal justice system when it comes to addressing women and their needs. Women offenders are more likely to be incarcerated now than they were at any other time in the history of the United States. The legal system has become more willing to prosecute and incarcerate women than at any other time in the history of the United States.