Everyday Lives of Female Prisoners

Abstract

This article deals with the daily disadvantages in the lives of women serving prison sentences. Here, women's perceptions of the prison experience and the meanings they attribute to being imprisoned are studied primarily in terms of gender-related specifics, such as the role of a mother, medical needs and personal care, the formation of social networks and the development of survival strategies, as well as methods of preserving self-esteem. The purpose of this article is to complement the findings of foreign studies that investigate key characteristics of the lives of female prisoners to the results obtained in a Slovenian qualitative study on the everyday lives of women serving their sentences in the Ig Prison. The fundamental findings are that female prisoners require special treatment in terms of healthcare and housing conditions, and that they need more personalized supervision based on the nature of their criminal offense. The characteristics of women's lives call for the development of professional programs that would ensure a professional approach to the issue and move away from stereotypes; after all, it has been proven that women require a different, gender-based treatment.