10.7: Suggestions for Positive Social Change
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Economic, social, and cultural factors likely contribute to this crime gap. Women have been shown to participate less in the crime market than men because they face different benefits and costs from committing crimes. They face different incentives: overall, women are found to be less able to commit crimes than men are and to be more risk-averse.
Policymakers should consider the possibility that positive changes that narrow gender gaps in the labor market and positive changes in social roles might result in less women participating in crime. Policies that help reduce wage disparity across skilled and unskilled female workers, such as incentivizing female education, might deter disadvantaged women from engaging in criminal activities. Eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and/or cutting back on excessively lengthy sentences should be considered at every level in every state for offenses that pose little to no threat to public safety, helping not to over-criminalize certain behaviors. Shifting resources to community-based prevention and treatment for substance abuse would alleviate some of the pressure on overcrowded prisons and lessen the recidivism rate for people living with decency issues. Examining for systemic racism, sexism, and classism influence incarceration rates in the justice system and redesigning approaches with an equity-focus is also imperative in healthier and more sustainable future for social policy and procedure.
In addition, with the (few) reports and data we have on gendered abuse forms people suffer during incarceration, a gender-responsive approach to meet the needs of justice-involved people - wherein "correctional agency programming and staff training should also be 'trauma- informed', doing no harm at a minimum, and recognizing that most of the women in their care are victims as well as 'offenders'" 338 - would improve conditions for those who are incarcerated as well as lessen trauma for people upon release.
Decades of neglect have denied vulnerable communities access to good jobs, reliable transportation, safe housing, accessible healthcare, and adequate schools. All of these things contribute to life chances (and likelihood of incarceration). Closing the wage gap, ending occupational segregation, and centralizing equity in education, gender roles, family, will help us turn a corner in mass incarceration in the U.S.
338 Sawyer, W. (2018). The Gender Divide: Tracking Women's State Prison Growth. Prison policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports..._overtime.html