According to research conducted by The University of Texas at El Paso, there is a gender gap in jail violations that disproportionately impacts women.
The study, led by Melinda Tasca, Ph.D., an associate professor in UTEP’s Department of Criminal Justice and Security Studies, and published in Justice Quarterly, examined the disciplinary infraction records of over 20,000 males and females released from a major western state prison during the early 2010s.
Based on the study, women were 40% more likely than men to obtain a disobedience violation and accrue them at a higher pace. The results also showed that women’s higher likelihood and rate of defiance infractions are distinct from other sorts of disciplinary infractions received by men, which women were either less likely to receive or received at a similar likelihood and rate.
“Results confirmed that defiance infractions are uniquely gendered, which subjects incarcerated women to harsh consequences for far less serious behavior than their male counterparts,” the study’s authors explained. “Our work fills key gaps in the literature and contributes to recent policy reform efforts aimed at prison disciplinary reform.”
