The explanation that many academics and think-tanks favour is that guards are less tolerant towards women. A 1994 study of Texan prisons found that wardens in female prisons demanded total compliance but those in male prisons did not. Ellie Butt at the Howard League, a prison-reform charity, thinks little has changed. Female inmates, she says, are considered doubly deviant—“a woman, and a criminal?” says one female ex-con, “You're practically Myra Hindley!” Guards may be more likely to write up and punish women's verbal assaults on staff than men's.
很多智库和学术机构偏向于狱警对女囚犯容忍度更低这一说法。1994年，一项对德克萨斯州囚犯的调查显示，女性监狱中的典狱官要求犯人们绝对服从，而在男性监狱中则不对囚犯作此要求。Howard League是一个致力于监狱改革的慈善团体，Ellie Butt是其中一员。。她认为监狱的情况并没有得到什么改善。（由于对女性性别的成见，）女性囚犯的偏激行为被放大了—“一个女人，同时也是一个罪犯？”一个有前科的女性说到（狱警对她的评价），“你活脱脱就是个迈拉·希德莉！”（译者注：Myra Hindley，被称为“沼泽杀手”，与她的男友一起诱拐、性侵、杀害数名孩童）相较于男性囚犯，狱警们更愿意记录并惩罚女性囚犯对他们的语言攻击。
Government figures hint this is true. “Disobedience or disrespect” was the reason for 44% of punishments given to female prisoners in 2014 compared with 39% of those handed out to men. Farah Damji, who has spent time in prison, says male guards were particularly keen to put her in her place. “It was a sense of, you think you have some status in the outside world? I'll show you,” she says. Ms Butt reckons such treatment contributes to the disproportionate levels of self-harm committed by women—26% of the prison-system total in 2014. Punishments were designed for men, says Juliet Lyon at the Prison Reform Trust, a charity, and are often a bad fit for women.
政府数据也证实了这一点。2014年，女性囚犯受到的惩罚，44%是因为“反抗或不尊重”，而男性则是39%。Farah Damji曾经入狱，她说男狱警尤其想让她乖乖听话。“感觉就像是（他们对你说），你觉得你在外面很有地位？那么让我告诉你（在这儿）应该是什么样的吧！” Butt女士则称这种待遇让女性囚犯更容易自残——2014年，整个监狱系统中，女性囚犯自我伤害的比率是26%。慈善团体Prison Reform Trust（译者注：直译为“监狱改革机构”）的 Juliet Lyon说，监狱中惩罚都是为男性囚犯设计的，很多情况下，并不适合对女性囚犯执行。
There are some promising signs of change. Since 2006 the rates of female assaults on staff have more than halved whereas male assault rates have stayed roughly flat. The gap between male and female punishment rates has also narrowed. One reason, Ms Lyon says, is that staff are learning more about working with prisoners who have suffered trauma.
有可靠迹象表明，现状可能有所改变。2006年以来，女性囚犯攻击狱警的案例已经减少一半，同时男性囚犯的案例数量几乎没有变化。二者受惩罚的比率差距正在缩小。Lyon女士说，其中一个原因就是，监狱工作人员正在学习如何同受过心理创伤的囚犯更好地相处。
A different approach altogether might work better. Women fare worse than men after prison: they are more likely to reoffend after sentences shorter than 12 months, the type they most commonly receive. They do better on alternative measures, though. Around 95% complete community-service sentences, but only 76% of men do. If jail turns women into Walter White, the anti-hero of the television series “Breaking Bad”, there is a case for not putting them there in the first place.
如采取别的方法惩罚女性囚犯，可能效果会更好。出狱后的女性比男性表现更差：如果判刑时间少于12个月，她们通常更容易再犯，而她们最常受到的往往就是少于12个月的刑罚。如果是其他形式的惩罚，对女性来说效果会更好。大约95%的女性犯罪者都能完成作为惩罚的社区服务，而只有76%的男性罪犯能做到。如果，监狱会把女性 《绝命毒师》中的反英雄角色老白那么从一开始，我们就不应该判她们入狱服刑。（译者注：老白即Walter White，《绝命毒师》的主角，加州理工毕业，但只当了高中化学老师。发现自己得了癌症后，为了快速挣钱，开始制毒、贩毒。）翻译：张露丹 校对：朱宇晴
评论
打印
