A challenge for the penitentiary system: transgender inmates
Keywords:
trangender minority, penitentiary, adaptation, case studyAbstract
Given the increasing visibility and proliferation of inclusion policies, more and more transgender people have begun to openly assume their new identity, claiming and having the right to be treated, including within the prison system, in a way to ensure the respect of their human rights and dignity. Considering the emancipation movement of transgender people, penitentiary systems, traditionally organized by binary segregation of inmates (male-female), based on sex attributed to birth, are undergoing or are about to undergo a genuine reform of correctional policies and practices to be able to adapt to the specifics of these prisoners. In this article we will try to clarify the main concepts needed to develop policies that are appropriate to the new developments regarding transgender people and we will introduce the main moments that marked the evolution of transgender inmates in England and Wales, as a case study. For the coherency of the case study, our approach was to review the main documents that regulate the situation of transgender in prisons of these countries, the policies adopted to reduce the risks that these individuals may confront during the sentence execution, and those related to the expression of gender identity within the penitentiary system. Also, good practices are analyzed in order to support the people who want to make transition to the gender they consider to belong to.
References
ABES, E. S., Critical Perspectives on Student Development Theory, New Directions for Student Services, 154, Wiley, 2016.
APA., Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people, American Psychologist, 70, 9, 2015, p. 832–864.
BAKER, S. J., Transgender Behind Prison Walls, Waterside Press, 2017.
BANKS, C., Women in prison: A reference handbook, ABC-CLIO, 2003.
BARTON-BELLESSA, S. M., & HANSER, R. D., Community-Based Corrections: A Text/Reader, SAGE Publications, 2011.
COVINGTON, S. S., Women in prison: Approaches in the treatment of our most invisible population, Women & Therapy, 21, 1, 1998, p. 141–155.
CURRAN, D. J., & RENZETTI, C. M., Theories of crime, Allyn and Bacon Boston, 1994.
FOUCAULT, M., Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012.
GIULIANO, P., The role of women in society: from preindustrial to modern times, CESifo Economic Studies, 61, 1, 2015, p. 33–52.
GLENN, E. N., The social construction and institutionalization of gender and race, Revisioning gender, 1999, p. 3–43.
GO, J. J., Should Gender Reassignment Surgery be Publicly Funded?, Journal of bioethical inquiry, 15, 4, 2018, p. 527–534.
GREENFELD, L. A., & MINOR-HARPER, S., Women in prison: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice, 1991.
GROSSMAN, A. H., PARK, J. Y., & RUSSELL, S. T., Transgender youth and suicidal behaviors: Applying the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide, Journal of gay & lesbian mental health, 20, 4, 2016, p. 329–349.
HAAS, A. P., ELIASON, M., MAYS, V. M., MATHY, R. M., COCHRAN, S. D., D'AUGELLI, A. R., . . . ROSARIO, M., Suicide and suicide risk in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations, Review and recommendations, Journal of homosexuality, 58, 1, 2010, p. 10–51.
HANAWALT, B. A., Women and work in preindustrial Europe, Indiana University Press Bloomington, 367, 1986.
INCOGNITO, R., Bodycage: A Transgender Autobiography, Chipmunkapublishing, 2008.
KRISBERG, B., MARCHIONNA, S., & BAIRD, C., Continuing the Struggle for Justice: 100 Years of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, SAGE Publications, 2007.
LIMSIRA, P., The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non- Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules), JE Asia & Int'l L., 4, 2011, p. 241.
LORBER, J., & FARRELL, S. A., The social construction of gender, Sage Newbury Park, CA, 1991.
MCQUAIDE, S., & EHRENREICH, J. H., Women in prison: Approaches to understanding the lives of a forgotten population, Affilia, 13, 2, 1998, p. 233–246.
MORRIS, N., & ROTHMAN, D. J., The Oxford history of the prison: The practice of punishment in Western society, Oxford University Press, 1995.
RAFTER, N. H., Gender and Justice, In The American Prison Springer, 1989, p. 89–109.
ROBERTS, J. V., Understanding Public Attitudes to Criminal Justice, Open University Press, 2005.
SEBA, J., Feeling Wrong in Your Own Body: Understanding what it Means to be Transgender, Mason Crest Pub, 2011.
WEST, C., & ZIMMERMAN, D. H., Doing gender, Gender & society, 1, 2, 1987, p. 125–151.
