The recommendation of a co-gender institution can be severe to the uninitiated; however, leaving the effect of the system that allows non-sexual social contact in the day to day activity with members of the opposite sex is highly significant (Osborne, 2014). Studies have pointed out that transforming an all-male prison institution to co-gender institutions demand a careful screening and management of all the offenders. The essay will focus on potential pros and cons of operating a co-correctional facility.
Therefore, allowing some of the prisoners both, males and females to take part in the correctional programs together can be significantly a perfect solution numerous equal protection problems (Pollock-Byrne & Pollock-Byrne, 1990). It is worth noting that this might not be a complete settlement of the challenges facing most prisons. Research has shown that numerous issues might emerge with this strategy and during the proposed inventiveness (Pollock, 1984). For instance, the management of the institution should ensure that they have a ubiquitous preoccupation of prison administrators and prisoners in the facility to have the correct set of objectives concerning contact between the inmate sexes. Additionally, there must be a clear rule established to either grant inmates to engage in sexual intercourse or forbid the act.
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The prison official should determine the designated areas where prisoners will have their privacy and where the two sexes will freely mingle. According to Osborne (2014), there must be areas considered for the general prisoner community and specific regions that are constrained to the opposite gender. Research established that the relationships among the inmates might play an integral role in their lives and to the life of the population. It can further be grouped into three distinct categories including companionship, counselor relationships and dating (Pollock-Byrne & Pollock-Byrne, 1990).
According to Osborne (2014), it might also be critical that the infrastructure of the institution must be subjected to in-depth assessment and evaluation to ensure that they all meet the required standards to provide subdivision housing cells for the female inmates. Additionally, there should be areas designated specifically for specialized health care practitioners and their equipment to caring for the specific female’s medical issues. More specifically, the facility institution should have an infrastructure that will care for women inmates who might be going through sickening pregnancy. Additionally, the prison facility should be developed in such a way that it will care for younger children if programs endorsement allows female prisoners to live in prison with their children to promote family cohesion (Osborne, 2014).
Currently, the focus of the correctional institution law libraries is on the materials that are related to the criminal law and the prisoner’s rights concerns. Therefore, in this case, all these might not be the most important legal issue for most of the female inmates. Evidently, most of the women in prison had children who were living with them before they were put into prison and are have the higher chances of being concerned with parental rights issues (Osborne, 2014).
The social aspects must be taken into consideration for reasonable risk reduction programs (Osborne, 2014). These programs must be in a position to address adequately all the underlying problems that might have resulted in the criminal behaviour and incarceration. It is essential, therefore that the overall treatment should be geared towards the female inmates especially family or parental education and social development programs. The recruitment and training of the female correctional officers are necessary to ensure that they are in a better position to address all issues and problem as that female prisoner's experience. It should take into consideration the following process, recruitment, training and even adoption of the prison officers (Pollock-Byrne & Pollock-Byrne, 1990).
Researchers have argued that the overwhelming numbers of the male prisoners surrounding the limited number of female inmates might cause increasing rates of violence and physical confrontations (Osborne, 2014). It depends on the length of their sentences that will dictate their level of appetite to satisfy their heterosexual needs. Male correctional officers might be tempted to practice illegal resolutions with sexual abuse of female inmates, and this might become a pattern of behaviour (Anderson, 1978). As result of this, there might be cases of violence and injuries among the male inmates who might be fighting over the female prisoners. There might be the need to establish policies and guidelines that should be adopted and implemented on prisoners relationships.
Numerous opportunities might develop in severe events, for instance, assaults of rape by forced sodomy; unwelcome touching of female inmates' private parts, breasts, and buttocks by male prison employees (Osborne, 2014). There might also be numerous cases of rude sexual remarks directed towards the female inmates by the jail officers. Additionally, it is evident that the male officers and other officials in the department of corrections might enter the female housing unannounced and in the process, this might harm some of the female prisoners. The event might be so pervasive to the extent that it might cause severe damage to the rest of the female prisoners (Pollock-Byrne & Pollock-Byrne, 1990).
In conclusion, the essay has identified numerous primary issues when it comes to the establishment of a co-correctional institution. The essay has, therefore, pointed various issues including facility problems, social challenges and management issues. If this program is to go forwards, the issues identified must be critically taken into consideration.
References
Anderson, D. C., (1978). Criminal Justice Publications, Inc, & United States of America. Co-corrections. Corrections Magazine , 4 (3), 33-42.
Osborne, K. T. (2014). Corrections Officers. The Encyclopaedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice .
Pollock, J. M. (1984). Women will be women: Correctional officers' perceptions of the emotionality of women inmates. The Prison Journal , 64 (1), 84-91.
Pollock-Byrne, J. M., & Pollock-Byrne, J. M. (1990). Women, prison & crime (p. 86). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
