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Prison Rates In Australia Essay

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International prison population statistics have found that the female prison population is increasing at a faster rate than the male prison population. Research has confirmed that, in the majority of countries, the male imprisonment rate is predominantly larger than that of the female imprisonment rate, however this does not apply to indigenous women within Australia. Overwhelming research shows that the imprisonment rate for indigenous women within Australia has increased at a significantly faster rate compared to indigenous males, most clearly highlighted through the general trends in prison rates within the last decade. This essay will discuss how the presence of indigeneity plays a key role in explaining the disparity between male and female imprisonment rates, further explaining why indigenous women are incarcerated at significantly highly rates. Moreover, there are numerous sociological and criminological theories, which provide an explanation for the disparity of male and female imprisonment rates. Furthermore, this essay will also discuss the social implications of these prison population trends in relation to criminal justice polices, other social policies related to …show more content…

Research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2001) found that there were 21,714 prisoners within Australian corrective facilities as of June 30, 2000. Where subsequently, the imprisonment rate was 148 prisoners per 100,000 population (ABS, 2001). Whereas statistics from the ABS taken in 2015, illustrate that the imprisonment rate had increased to 196 prisoners per 100,000 adult populations. Moreover, the overall recorded number of prisoners as of June 30, 2015, was 33,789 (ABS, 2015). From this it is apparent that in the period from 2000 to 2015, there was a significant increase of 12,075 individuals in the general prison population of

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