To think most female prisoners are sad rather than bad?

[Hereinthismoment]

Watching Time. Obviously I’m saying most and some will be bad. Some will be sad and bad. But it has always seemed to me most are likely to be really vulnerable. No expert though.

I agree years of generational trauma. Of course there are exceptions.

Many women in prison have been victims of much more serious offences than those they are accused of committing. Over half the women in prison report having suffered domestic violence with 53% of women reporting having experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child.

Source: https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/project/women-the-criminal-justice-system/

What about Emma Tustin, Is she sad?

Most, if not all, female prisoners are extremely traumatised from their childhood, adult experiences or most likely both. Some of the things they have been through are utterly heartbreaking. I work in Probation and I don’t have a single female who hasn’t been abused and mistreated.

most prisoners are sad rather than bad. males and females

Did I say ‘every single one’?

I dont think that'll be much consolation to their victims though

It makes my head hurt to think about this. I haven't known female prisoners but a few men from my hick town ended up behind bars.

They weren't very nice but then one of them clearly had some kind of undiagnosed mental disability now that I look back. He might have turned out very differently if he had had access to special education of basic kindness from people who labelled him as "bad" from the time he started school. Who knows.

Four or five of them were known as being from "bad" families, which meant "poor." Again, if people hadn't hated them and taken every opportunity to make them hate everyone else, they might have felt like they had something to lose and made different decisions.

It's a tough one. I don't like any of these people, but am now mature enough to realize that they must have picked up on the general contempt for them and had nothing to lose because no one every gave them opportunities. I imagine women behind bars must have similar backgrounds.

Let’s leave the men out of it.

I don’t doubt there are troubled males but they do tend to be more likely to be in for violent or sexual offences, which I am slightly less inclined to be sympathetic about.

Why are we leaving men out of it? I've worked in prisons for decades, and can tell you quite categorically that your statements applies equally to both men and women

Because I posted about women’s prisons.

Not everything has to be about men. It’s like when you post about domestic abuse and someone always has to pipe up that men can be victims too!

whatever. What I said still stands, your statement applies equally to both

I believe it’s true that females are put in prison for relatively minor crimes compared to males … maybe someone can enlighten me?

I would say this is the case for many male prisoners as well.

no, the reverse, women are far less likely to go to prison for the same crimes as men

That isn’t what I’ve heard, but I concede I’m not an expert. I do know that women don’t tend to be in for violent or sexual offences as a rule (obviously there are exceptions before someone reminds me of this fact.)

What completely shocked me from watching Time was that Jodie Whittakers character was released with a camping tent to live in

I thought 'that can't possibly be true' and googled it and female prisoners really were released with a tent rather than a place to go !

She went to jail for fiddling her electricity bill to keep her children warm - when she went in she had 3 kids, a home and a job

And when she came out no children and a TENT !

Depends what you mean by bad though? I think its a massive generalisation and everyone will have a back story to the crimes they have committed

I did think that was really unlikely that she’d be imprisoned for six months with no previous offences.

I do know that when women go to prison, family life falls apart. It’s catastrophic for children in a way it isn’t when the dad goes to jail.

Most, if not all, female prisoners are extremely traumatised from their childhood
Yea, that's pretty much the case for males too. So, people. Most people in prison have had a shitty life.

Oh, of course, but some crimes are so repellent (see above example of Emma Tustin) that the back story is irrelevant.

What does strike me though is that drugs are the catalyst for a lot of crimes and a lot of the time drugs are taken to deal with trauma. It’s not easy - I’m not pretending to have any answers here.

It reminds me of the hard girls at school with lots of makeup and short skirts. Scary to me at the time but looking back incredibly vulnerable.

@bossybloss no the reverse.

Worked in criminal law for a long time. Or court work.

Re the OP.

Sad upbringings sometimes, yes.

Sad life choices sometimes, yes.

I don't think that level of crime can be split between the sad bad thing. Men, women, drugs leading to catalogues of crime.

The more serious stuff, again, not sure I could call your question.

I've been in as a solicitor and as a Safeguarder for children. You get someone bad, they are bad.

In terms of where I would sleep easier after visiting, men's prison for sure.

Barlinnie is not for the faint hearted.

I do know that when women go to prison, family life falls apart. It’s catastrophic for children in a way it isn’t when the dad goes to jail.

That seems a bit of a sexist statement to me. Definitely in our house family life would fall apart if DH ended up in jail. If I went to jail, they'd probably muddle through.

It’s catastrophic for children in a way it isn’t when the dad goes to jail.
That's just not true. I work with vulnerable young people, quite a few have dads in prison or who were in prison ,it has ruined their poor little lives. That's trauma. Whether it's your mother or you father.

Women might be better able to keep things going and make it seem ok when dad is in prison but those kids are just as messed up from it.

So according to this only 4% of the prison population are female. It’s a shame it can’t be discussed without bringing men into it.