About Women Rights

AboutWomen Rights

AboutWomen Rights

Question2

Prisonlife is complicated with several issues, especially when it comes tolack of discipline and riots. A lot of emphasis and scrutiny has beenplaced on the male prisons while female correctional facilities seemneglected. The issues that arise in these institutions are more orless the same. Chapter 6 of the book Convict Women by Kay Danielsdescribes several events involving rioting of women in prisons tosignificant extents (Daniels, 1998). Apparently, the causes of suchriots originate from an individual whose punishment would then leadto more protests in groups. As such, a close outlook on thedescriptions of how these disturbances took place indicates that therebellions are planned despite seeming to be spontaneous altogether.However, there is a possibility that the after events after the riotbegins may be spontaneous.

Accordingto Daniels (1998), women in prison have different ways ofcommunication and interaction. Those that are illiterate are alsoeducated on how the processes take place. This means that the inmatesare capable of speaking to each other and thereby agreeing on what todo and how to execute their plan. An example is provided in instanceswhere the inmates applied cunning methods such as wetting of cottonto make it heavier so as to reduce working hours and also the riotconcerning haircuts (Daniels, 1998). There is no possible explanationas to how a group of women would wet cotton to make it heavier otherthan the possibility of agreeing among themselves to implement theidea. In other words, one person might have the idea and shares it tothe other individuals, and as a group, they all do the same.

Oneof the most relevant riots that indicate the element of theorganization is that of Launceston correction facility where aconfined woman tricked a matron to visit her and in the process, agroup of other women rescued her (Daniels, 1998). The way in whichthis “mini-operation” took place shows the level of planning,timing and precise execution of the ideas that such inmates have.Although these organizations are not fool-proof in the long run, thebottom line is that there is every likelihood that the acts arepre-planned beforehand. It is not entirely clear in the book as towhether or not the mass actions are fuelled by individual perceptionsor the fact that people with similar characteristics tend to pooltogether for strength and protection.

Therealization that women inmates are capable of creating massformations quickly says a lot. First and foremost, it means that justlike their male counterparts, women are capable of forming unions andguilds as a method of dealing with challenges concerning socialorder. Likewise, the manner in which the riots and demonstrations areexecuted are clear indications that there is proper planning of theactivities. Another significance of the planning phenomenon is thatit helps in the understanding that ringleaders who pushed for theriots were present. The literature asserts that such individuals werehighly influential, feared by other women inmates and most of allthey had the ability, money, and power to transact various operations(Daniels, 1998).

Allin all, the comprehension of the rioting acts and how they areorchestrated enable the deciphering of the relationships that existin women prisons and how they can pose as threats to peace, safety,and correction. These events happen solely because such factoryenvironments are typical societies that call for collectivefunctioning rather than self-motivated actions for personal interest.

References

Daniels, K. (1998). Convict Women. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin.