How Health Care and Family Support Effect Incarcerated Women

[Faculty's Name]

[Month/ Year]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends and family for support they provide, their belief in me as well as the guidance they provided me, without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this dissertation stands for my individual work without any aid, and this dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level, previously. It is also representing my very own views and not essentially those views that are associated with the university.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT2

DECLARATION3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW5

Introduction5

Family support11

Health12

Case Study of Canadian Prisons16

Illustrations of the economy of incarcerated female sexuality18

The presence of personal monitoring of the opposite sex18

Weaknesses and problems to be taken up19

HIV infection in prisons21

Specific needs of women in prison22

How is the pregnancy of a female prisoner?23

Where to place the birth of a female prisoner?24

Monitoring during labor25

Mother-Child relationship in prison26

Children born in prisons27

What happens to the child of an inmate after delivery?29

The influence of prison setting on children30

Interventions for incarcerated women's health- The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)33

ICRC and the fight against HIV / AIDS in prisons35

Prison Stakeholders36

Profile of the female prison population37

Summary38

REFERENCES42

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

Over the years, various studies have been carried out on the topic of incarcerated women and the problems that they face in the prison setup. In this study, we particularly focused on problems of healthcare and family support that incarcerated women face in jails. After studying a plethora of literature on the said topic, it has been revealed that with the increasing rate of criminal activities across the globe, the involvement of women in criminal acts is also growing. This has leas to an increased rate of incarcerated women in the prisons everywhere. However, women still comprise of a minority in prison set up and as a result, they are subjected to discriminatory practices and maltreatment (Bloom, Owen & Covington, 2003).

Research also discloses that women living in prisons ate oftentimes deprived of proper healthcare facilities. This especially pertains to those women who are pregnant or have recently given birth to their young. Pregnant women, as well as those who are going through their post-partum period of time are vulnerable to diseases and are in dire need of proper healthcare facilities. (Belknap, 2008) The problem worsens when, at times, pregnant women are infected with HIV and they gave birth to HIV positive children. Statistics by Brown University HIV and Hepatitis Education Prison Project (HEPP) showed that women who are incarcerated are three times more vulnerable to be infected with HIV as compared to their male counterparts (De Groot, 2000). In US prisons alone, the proportion of prisoners with HIV is 3.5 % for women and 2.3 % for men. (Beck & Hughes, 2005)

This is a much higher ratio of HIV infected patients in prisons as compared to the general ...