“Womens imprisonment in England and Wales at the end of the twentieth Century is: Excessively punitive; totally inappropriate to the needs of women being sent to prison; and ripe for abolition in its present form. (Carlen 1998) Discuss.”

There is a need for women prisoners to be regarded differently to their male counterparts due to their roles, reactions and stress caused as a result of the separation from their children.  This is an important area to address as it is a very real and immanent problem for nearly two thirds of incarcerated women.  This is exasperated further by the fact that only one quarter of these children are looked after by their father or their mothers current partner (HM Chief Inspector of Prisons 1997)….(short extract)