Indiana Women's Prison

The Indiana Women’s Prison was established in 1873 as the first adult female correctional facility in the country.Rafter, Nicole Hahn. Partial Justice: Women, Prisons and Social Control. Transaction Publishers, 1990.] The prison remains at its original location, one mile east of downtown Indianapolis. As of 2005 it had an average daily population of 420 inmates, [http://www.in.gov/indcorrection/facility/iwp/general.htm official Indiana Women’s Prison website] ] most of whom are members of special-needs populations, such as geriatric, mentally ill, pregnant, and juveniles sentenced as adults. Security levels range from medium to maximum. The prison holds Indiana’s only death row for women; however, currently no Indiana woman is sentenced to death.O’Shea, Kathleen A. Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900-1998. Praeger Publishers, 1999.]

Early history

Established in 1873, the Indiana Women’s Prison was not only the United States’ first separate institution for female prisoners, but was also the first maximum-security female correctional facility in the nation.Handbook of American Prisons and Reformatories published by the National Society of Penal Information, Incorporated, New York, NY, 1929] Formerly, female felons had been detained at the Indiana State Prison, located first in Jeffersonville and later in Clarksville. When Quaker prison reformers Rhoda Coffin and Sarah J. Smith learned of the abuses suffered by women prisoners at the expense of the male guards, they lobbied for an end to sexual abuse of women in state prisons.Freedman, Estelle B. Their Sisters’ Keepers: Women’s Prison Reform in America, 1830-1930. The University of Michigan Press, 1981.] In 1869, their bill for a “Female Prison and Reformatory Institution for Girls and Women” passed the state legislature and served as a precedent to prison reformers across the country.

Sarah J. Smith, a minister, former Civil War nurse, and matron of Indiana's Home for the Friendless in Richmond, was the first superintendent of the Indiana Women’s Prison,Rafter, Nicole Hahn. Partial Justice: Women in State Prisons, 1800-1935. Northeastern University Press, 1985.] as well as the first female superintendent of any prison – male or female – in the United States. As superintendent, she "relied on traditional methods of discipline" in addition to teaching inmates "some remunerative skills so that they would not be tempted to commit crimes after their release." Mainly, the women worked on laundry, sewing, and knitting, though some did industrial work. Rewards for good merit included working outdoors in the chicken farm or gardens, painting the rooms, and performing other small renovations.

At the opening of the institution, only sixteen offenders were held in the Women’s Prison; however, the number of inmates quickly increased. According to the Handbook of American Prisons published in 1929, 197 women were incarcerated on September 30 1928. The Handbook noted that the women could benefit from increased organization in prison activities to provide a "wholesome experience in the duties and responsibilities of social living."

Mid-20th century

In 1968, Dana Blank took the job of assistant superintendent at the Indiana Women’s Prison. Upon her arrival, the population of female offenders had dropped to around 88, and there were no treatment programs available to the women. Once Blank became superintendent in 1990, however, she began to change the culture of the prison to one that looks at each woman holistically. Because of the extremely high abuse rate among incarcerated women, Blank created a safe and nurturing environment for the women in addition to beginning the prison’s visitation program and summer camp in order to promote mother-child bonding.

Since 1900, the state of Indiana has sentenced to death four women, none of whom were ever executed. The most famous of them was Paula Cooper #864800, [http://www.in.gov/apps/indcorrection/ofs/?offnum=864800&search2.x=30&search2.y=16|] a 15- year old juvenile sentenced to death on July 11, 1986, for her role in the grisly murder of an elderly neighbor. While her death sentence was commuted in 1989, Cooper's sentence caused international uproar because of her youth, and even Pope John Paul II intervened on her behalf. While in prison, she continued to make headlines: a bill that raised Indiana’s age of execution for murder from 10 to 16 came directly from Paula Cooper’s case, as did a bill that made it illegal for jail employees to have sex with inmates after two guards and a recreational therapist were charged with having sex with Cooper while she was in jail awaiting sentencing.

Demographics

According to data released on September 7 2006, by the Indiana Department of Corrections, of the prison’s 430 inmates, 272 were white, 145 black, 9 Hispanic, 2 American Indian, and 2 Asian/Pacific. Compared to the percentages of white and black inmates of the state’s adult male facilities, the Indiana Women’s Prison has a higher percentage of whites incarcerated (63% to 55%) and a lower percentage of blacks incarcerated (34% to 37%)."Race of Employees and Inmates" statistics, Indiana Department of Corrections] Rockville Correctional Facility, Indiana’s other female prison, has similar percentages: 64% of inmates are white, 32% black. Despite having whites account for nearly two-thirds of the inmates, white prison employees make up only 52% of the 165-member staff. Black staff members account for 45%, which is the highest percentage of black staff in the state. In a state where almost half the inmates are black, whites constitute 83% of prison employees while black staff members account for 14% of the DOC’s 6,245 employees.

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