Introduction

The Institute on Women and Criminal Justice of the Women’s Prison Association is releasing the first volume of The Punitiveness Report, a national study by Dr. Natasha Frost, assistant professor at Northeastern University College of Criminal Justice.  Her report presents the first state-by-state compendium of data charting the dramatic increase in the incarceration of women over the past 27 years in the United States.  A second volume will look more deeply at factors that increased the risk of imprisonment for women arrested for felony offenses and increased the amount of time spent behind bars.

While women comprise just a small segment of all the people serving prison terms in the U.S., their number is rising at a far faster rate than that of men.  Incarceration of women has profound impacts on the families and communities left behind.  Dr. Frost’s findings should spark a national dialogue about how women are affected by incarceration.  Her findings should also motivate policymakers to examine the trends and prospects for reform in their states.

Growth Trends and Recent Research Findings is presented as a companion to Dr. Frost’s exhaustive study.  It provides a brief overview of recent research that provides context for her findings regarding the increased incarceration of women, and discusses the multitude of problems incarceration presents for women and their children.  This report also takes a closer look at growth patterns, regional trends, and how states rank on various measures of female imprisonment.

Over the final quarter of the 20^th century, U.S. criminal justice policies underwent a period of intense politicization and harsh transformation.  Draconian sentencing laws and get-tough correctional policies led to an unprecedented increase in jail and prison populations, driving the United States’ rate of incarceration head and shoulders above that of other developed nations. 

The imprisonment boom that began in the late 1970s has swelled the state and federal prison system to more than 1.4 million prisoners.  Adding those held in local jails and other lockups (juvenile facilities, immigrant detention, etc.) the total number of people behind bars rises to almost 2.3 million—of which seven percent are women. [1]   At the end of 2004, 96,125 women were serving state or federal prison sentences—almost nine times the number in prison in 1977. [2]  

National prison population growth trends

Female state prison population growth has far outpaced male growth in the past quarter-century.  The number of women serving sentences of more than a year grew by 757 percent between 1977 and 2004—nearly twice the 388 percent increase in the male prison population.  Although the size of the gap varies, female prison populations have risen more quickly than male populations in all 50 states.  The trend has also been persistent, with median annual growth rates for women exceeding growth rates for men in 22 of the last 27 years, including each of the past 11 years. [3]  

In part, this is due to the small number of women who were incarcerated at the beginning of the boom relative to the number of men, so that increases show up as larger proportional growth against smaller base figures. 

Women’s higher growth rate is also due to an increase in the number of women arrested. For example, between 1995 and 2004, arrests of women were up 13 percent while the number of women behind prison bars rose by 53 percent.  Female imprisonment rates jumped 36 percent over the same period, compared to an increase of 17 percent for men.  Women’s share of the prison population rose from 6.3 percent to 7.2 percent. 

While the number of women prisoners has soared, the proportion of women convicted of violent offenses has declined since 1979, when they comprised 49 percent of the women in the state prison system. [4]   One-third of the women serving state prison sentences in 2002 were incarcerated for violent offenses, compared to more than half of the men.  Drug offenses now account for nearly one-third of women (up from one in 10 in 1979), compared with just one-fifth of men.

Male prison populations catch cold while women get pneumonia

The rise of the female state prison population has been constant but uneven over the past quarter-century, punctuated by growth spurts in the early and late 1980s and mid-1990s.  Median annual growth rates fell after 1995 and have remained in the single digits since then.  Nonetheless, many states continue to see significant population growth, including nine where numbers shot up by over 10 percent in 2004. 

The pattern of growth in female prison populations generally tracks changes in male prison populations, which also underwent periods of rapid expansion in the early and late 1980s.  But women have been hit much harder, experiencing growth spikes that reached higher, lasted longer and often began earlier than those affecting men.

For example, while the growth rate for male prisoners shot up a little more than twofold between 1980 and 1981, from 5.4 percent to 14 percent, the growth rate for female prisoners increased four-fold, from 3.8 percent to 17 percent.  The following year, the male growth rate fell below 12 percent while the female growth rate kept climbing to more than 18 percent.

An even more remarkable growth spurt took place between 1987 and 1990.  Both the men’s and women’s prison populations began and ended the four-year period with annual growth rates hovering around seven to eight percent.  In between, however, annual growth in the women’s prison population hit record levels, topping 25 percent, compared to a peak rate of less than 14 percent for males.  To paraphrase the old saying, when the male prison population caught cold, women came down with pneumonia.

The gap between male and female prison population growth rates has widened recently, producing an annual rate of increase for women that roughly doubled the rate for men in six of the last seven years.  The number of women added to the state prison populations each year remains high despite lower growth rates.  In fact, the expansion that has taken place since 1999 (11,689 new female prisoners) exceeds the total female state prison population in 1980 (11,113 women). 

Regional prison population growth trends

National trends play a significant role in patterns of state prison population expansion, as evidenced by the simultaneous growth spurts that took place at the beginning and end of the 1980s.  Three in five states saw female prison population growth rates reach a 25-year high-water mark in 1981 (six states), 1982 (six states) or 1989 (14 states).  The latter year was an extraordinarily punitive one for women: 43 states saw population increases in the double digits while half saw their numbers jump by more than 25 percent. But growth in women’s prison populations also varies by geographic region. [5]  

The Northeast: Turning the corner on female prison population growth?

Northeastern states logged extraordinarily rapid growth during the 1980s followed by below-average growth during the 1990s. [6]   The region saw record growth in 1989 when most states saw their female prison population jump by more than a third.  Between 1999 and 2004, however, the total number of women housed in Northeastern state prisons fell by 11 percent (976 prisoners), driven by prison population declines in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The Pacific states: From boom to bust and back

Pacific states also saw unusually high rates of growth during the 1980s, including nine years with median growth rates in the double-digits. [7]   The pattern in the years that followed has been erratic.  The region’s female prison population actually fell slightly in 1991 but resumed its climb the following year.  The turn of the century ushered in a more substantial 1,347-person decrease in the region’s female prison population, reflected in every Pacific state but Oregon.  But by the end of 2004, the decline had been erased by the addition of 2,003 women to prisons in Pacific states.

The Midwest and South: Setting the national growth trend

Depending on how one looks at it, women’s prison populations in the Midwest and South either set the national trend or tracked it closely, rising rapidly in the early and late 1980s and mid-1990s. [8]   Southern states (excluding Texas) were more likely to see below-average growth rates during the 1980s, but the region has nearly matched national median rates since then.  Midwestern states’ median growth rates have hovered at or below those of the nation as a whole since 1999 with the exception of 2004, when the region’s annual growth rate shot to more than 8 percent. 

The number of women added to Southern prisons each year remains substantial.  The region recorded its second-largest annual increase in 1999 (2,007 women), and its fourth-largest increase took place in 2002 (1,853 women).  Almost a quarter (23 percent) of Southern female prison population growth since 1979 took place in the last five years.

The Mountain states: Speeding ahead

Every region has seen women’s prison populations increase by leaps and bounds.  But the pace and persistence of growth in the Mountain states set the region apart from the rest of the country.  Over the past 27 years, the total female prison population of the Mountain states has risen by 1,600 percent—twice the national population growth rate of 757 percent.

The explosion of women’s prison populations in the Mountain states began in the 1980s and has continued in recent years.  The region’s total female prison population has increased by 56 percent since 1999—four times the 13 percent increase felt nationally.    Fully 38 percent of the growth in the Mountain states’ female prison population over the past quarter-century occurred during the last five years.

Tough, tougher, toughest: Mountain and Southern states lead the rise in female imprisonment rates

Analysis of median incarceration rates for the various regions shows similar patterns with some critical differences.  Southern states experienced the smallest proportional growth in female imprisonment rates.  But because the South began the 27-year period with much higher rates than the rest of the country—a median of 11 per 100,000 residents compared to a median of five per 100,000 residents elsewhere—increased use of incarceration had a greater impact there. 

While the typical Midwest state added 40 female prisoners for every 100,000 residents between 1979 and 2004, and the typical Pacific state added 46 per 100,000, the median incarceration rate for Southern states grew by 57 per 100,000—second only to a Mountain state increase of 77 per 100,000.  As for the Northeastern states, it took a decade of breakneck growth to reach the place where Southern states started in 1977.

State variance in the use of imprisonment for women

The use of imprisonment for women varies enormously by state as well as by region.  129 of every 100,000 women in Oklahoma are serving a state prison sentence while Massachusetts imprisons 11 women for every 100,000 female state residents.  Women make up over 12 percent of state prisoners in Montana—nearly four times their 3.2 percent share of Rhode Island’s prison population.  A handful of states—including Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire and North Dakota—have seen a greater than 20-fold increase in their female prison populations since 1977. [9]   Michigan and North Carolina, by contrast, experienced comparatively “modest” four-fold growth over the same period.

The measures employed in the following comparative analysis of states—the female imprisonment rate, the female proportion of the prison population, and female prison population growth—help us identify patterns and trends that can guide future research exploring how and why the extent of female imprisonment varies so greatly among states.  Each of these measures captures a different facet of the extent of female imprisonment and how it has changed over time.  Used together, the measures pinpoint states where sentencing and correctional policies and trends appear to have fallen harder, or less hard, on women.  Ultimately, they help to highlight both positive trends as well as unmet opportunities to reduce costs and improve outcomes.

How states stack up

States stack up differently based on the measure used to compare them.  Louisiana has the nation’s third-highest female imprisonment rate (103 per 100,000 residents) but women’s share of the state’s prison population (6.5 percent) falls below the national median (7 percent).  New Hampshire ranks third in female prison population growth (up 5,850 percent since 1977) yet the state’s female imprisonment rate (18 per 100,000) remains the fourth-lowest in the nation.  The chart at the end of this section presents state statistics and ranks across all three measures (including measures of population growth over two different time periods).

A handful of states, however, stand among the nation’s “toughest” on multiple measures of female imprisonment.  Trends in these states should be of particular interest to researchers, policymakers and advocates who are concerned about the damage that imprisonment can cause to women, their families and their communities. 

Heading the list is Montana, which devotes by far the largest share of its prison beds to women.  Montana’s female prison population has grown at the fastest rate in the nation since 1977 and its female imprisonment rate (102 per 100,000) ranks fourth nationwide. 

Several other Mountain states also appear to be particularly tough on women.  Idaho and Colorado rank among the top 10 on every scale of female imprisonment, including population growth over the last five years.  Wyoming devotes the second-largest share of prison space to women and imprisons them at the ninth-highest rate in the nation.  Arizona boasts the nation’s seventh-leading female imprisonment rate and has seen its female prison population jump by more than 60 percent since 1999.

Among Southern states, Oklahoma and Mississippi merit special attention.  Not only do they imprison women at the highest rates in the nation, but Oklahoma is also one of six states where women make up at least 10 percent of the prison population, and Mississippi’s population has grown 28 times larger since 1977. 

Three Midwestern states and one Pacific state demand also deserve notice, each for a different set of reasons.  Women are heavily overrepresented in South Dakota prisons compared to rest of the nation, and the state’s incarceration and growth rates are well above average.  Missouri imprisons women at the eighth-highest rate in the nation and also ranks poorly on the other scales of female imprisonment. 

North Dakota has a comparatively low female imprisonment rate but devotes over 10 percent of its prison beds to women—a population whose numbers have shot up 6,350 percent since 1977 and doubled over the past five years.  Women also comprise over 10 percent of prisoners in Hawaii and, despite an 8 percent drop in its female prison population since 1999, the Pacific state ranks fourth in population growth over the past 27 years.

On the other end of the spectrum are several states that have made much less extensive use of prisons for women.  Rhode Island lands at the bottom by nearly every measure.  Women comprise just over three percent of Rhode Island’s prison population and are imprisoned at a rate of 11 per 100,000 residents despite more than four-fold growth in the number of female prisoners since 1977.  Neighboring Massachusetts is also remarkable for its equally low incarceration rate; the small share of prison beds the state devotes to women (4.3 percent); and a 9 percent reduction in the female prison population that has taken place in the last half-decade.

New York and Michigan follow Rhode Island and Massachusetts, devoting a slightly higher proportion of prison beds to women and imprisoning women at significantly higher but still below-average rates.  The growth rate of Michigan’s female prison population over the past 27 years was the second-lowest in the nation (five percent per year on average) and not far above the growth rate for men.  New York claimed the ninth-slowest growth rate as well as the most significant drop in its female prison population since the turn of the century. 

Several other Northeastern states, including New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, fall near the bottom of most female imprisonment scales.  The Garden State recorded the second-largest female prison population reduction over the last five years.  New Hampshire, as previously mentioned, has maintained a low female imprisonment rate despite huge proportional growth in its women’s prison population. 

Maryland and North Carolina deserve mention for another reason.  Both states have experienced unusually slow growth in their female prison populations since 1977, bringing imprisonment rates that were once among the nation’s highest into the bottom ranks.

Measures of state use of imprisonment for women
State	Imprisonment rate: 2004		Proportion of all prisoners: 2004		Prison population growth: 1977 to 2004		Prison population growth: 1999 to 2004
	Rate	Rank	% female	Rank	Growth	Rank	Growth	Rank
Alabama	71	15	6.6%	32	645%	35	3%	39
Alaska	55	25	6.6%	30	729%	32	31%	24
Arizona	89	7	8.2%	16	1261%	13	62%	9
Arkansas	65	19	6.7%	28	900%	24	17%	29
California	61	22	6.6%	31	1522%	9	1%	41
Colorado	83	10	9.4%	8	2539%	6	57%	10
Connecticut	44	33	6.0%	39	1010%	18	-3%	45
Delaware	51	28	5.3%	43	424%	43	0%	42
Florida	64	20	6.6%	29	551%	39	48%	16
Georgia	77	11	6.7%	27	596%	38	32%	22
Hawaii	69	16	10.5%	3	3029%	4	-8%	47
Idaho	93	6	10.1%	5	2211%	7	62%	8
Illinois	43	34	6.2%	35	893%	25	-2%	44
Indiana	59	23	7.9%	19	1347%	12	54%	11
Iowa	50	29	8.9%	10	801%	27	40%	19
Kansas	45	32	6.9%	26	597%	37	9%	35
Kentucky	69	17	8.4%	14	949%	21	32%	23
Louisiana	103	3	6.5%	33	1000%	19	5%	37
Maine	18	48	6.1%	37	757%	31	114%	1
Maryland	39	41	5.0%	44	353%	48	13%	30
Massachusetts	11	49	4.3%	48	382%	45	-9%	48
Michigan	41	37	4.3%	49	293%	49	4%	38
Minnesota	21	46	6.2%	36	625%	36	54%	12
Mississippi	107	2	8.2%	15	2711%	5	25%	26
Missouri	85	8	8.1%	17	1484%	11	33%	21
Montana	102	4	12.2%	1	23550%	1	80%	6
Nebraska	39	40	8.6%	12	377%	46	44%	17
Nevada	77	12	7.8%	20	1251%	14	20%	27
New Hampshire	18	47	4.9%	45	5850%	3	2%	40
New Jersey	33	42