NCJ Number: 183056
Title: On the Margin of Life: Women's Imprisonment in Poland (From Harsh Punishment: International Experiences of Women's
Imprisonment, P 160-171, 1999, Sandy Cook and Susanne Davies,
eds. -- See NCJ-183050)
Author(s): Monika Platek
Date Published: 1999
Page Count: 12
Sponsoring Agency: Northeastern University Press
Sale Source: Northeastern University Press
Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
Format: Book (Softbound)
Language: English
Country: United States of America
Annotation: This chapter details several decades of Polish women's
experiences in prison; it contends that their imprisonment
reflects the broader stereotyping and vulnerability of women in
Poland.
Abstract: Of the 100,000 Poles in prison at the start of 1985, when the
political texture of Poland began to unravel, more than 5,500
were women. This number began to drop suddenly, however, after
the practical implementation of the minister of justice's
official letter to prosecutors and judges that announced a new
policy toward women with respect to the administration of penal
law and penitentiary practice. Under the new policy, women were
only to be sentenced to isolation in exceptional cases and were
to be released on license whenever formal prerequisites permitted
such release. By the end of 1985 the number of imprisoned women
had declined to 5,112. By April 30, 1988, there were 3,301 women
in various forms of incarceration. Of this number, 219 were under
arrest for misdemeanors, 561 were in detention, and only 2,521
had been sentenced to imprisonment. In 1988 instructions were
prepared that ordered women's prisons to be altered to meet
minimum rule requirements; minimum rules detail the minimum that
is expected of prisons in terms of the conditions and treatment
they afford inmates. Typically, custodial facilities do not go
beyond these minimum requirements. These minimum rules have done
little to improve women inmates' prospects for building better
lives for themselves and their children and for finding
significant work and accommodation, however. Regardless of the
numbers of women in Polish prisons, women's particular needs have
never been acknowledged or addressed. Today there are only 1,343
women in Polish prisons, and they are more "invisible" than ever.
6 notes and 6 references
Main Term(s): Corrections in foreign countries
Index Term(s): Corrections policies; Corrections standards; Female inmates; Gender issues; Inmate statistics; Poland
To cite this abstract, use the following link: http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=183056
. A title search of 