Document Type

Briefing Paper

Publication Date

10-2011

Abstract

Since the 1970’s women have disproportionately been impacted by a massive increase in incarceration rates in comparison to men. In the U.S. from 2000 to 2009 the number of incarcerated females increased by 24%, compared to 16% for males. In Maine, the numbers are much more staggering. From 2000 to 2009 the increase of incarcerated females in Maine was 118%, for males during the same time period it was 17%. Females in Maine are now about 7% of the incarcerated population, which is the same as the nation (Frost, Greene, & Pranis, 2006; West, Sabol, & Greenman, 2010).

This brief presents a summary of a report which updated the previous 2009 report (King, 2009) with new data. The new sample consists of case records of 1939 women who entered probation in 2007, 2008, and 2009. This sample is compared to the previous report’s sample of women who entered probation in 2004, 2005, and 2006. All case records were imported from the MDOC’s Correctional Information System (CORIS) and includes basic demographic information such as gender, age, and race/ ethnicity. The goal is to present the latest statistics and any trends between the two samples. This report aims to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the demographic characteristics of Maine’s women offenders?

2. What are the recidivism rates of Maine’s women offenders?

3. Are there any trends over the 6 year time period?

Comments

For more information about this report: http://justiceresearch.usm.maine.edu/

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