Counseling Women in Prison

This volume presents a clear description of the problems of women offenders, a variety of treatment approaches and prospects for the future. Four chapters are devoted to the particular conditions of women's prisons, and the psychological effects on their inmates. The remaining chapters address clinical issues.

It has been said that the criminal justice system is a system of men, for men. Women certainly are the minorityùboth as offenders and as professionals in the corrections systems. Yet, recently there has been a tremendous increase in the use of imprisonment for female offenders. In Counseling Women in Prison, author Joycelyn M. Pollock focuses on the female offender in prison and raises issues related to counseling female prisoners. She presents an overview of the female offender and womenÆs prisons and then focuses on the clinical approaches. This volume is not intended as a technical guide for counselors or as a textbook in counseling; rather, it touches on some sociological and organizational issues that have relevance to counselors who work with female offenders. It provides the correctional professional or the student who plans to enter the field with some understanding of criminological theory, the nature of the prison environment, some familiarity with selected prison programs, and background characteristics of the female offender. Each chapter concludes with a section titled "Implications for the Counselor," which highlights the relevance of the chapterÆs subject matter to concerns of the counselor. Covering a range of issues through a variety of treatment applications, Counseling Women in Prison is the ideal resource for institutional counselors, correctional officers, psychologists, and psychiatrists who provide either individual or group counseling to female offenders.