PUZZLE OF HIGH INCARCERATION RATE FOR WOMEN RESEARCHED

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A state task force wants to know why so many Oklahoma
women land in prison and what can be done to reverse the trend.

Oklahoma imprisons 130 women per 100,000 residents, tops among all states.
The national rate is 58 per 100,000.

Statistics show it is not a regional problem. Neighboring Kansas
incarcerates only 36 women per 100,000, New Mexico imprisons 50 and
Arkansas 57.

Debbe Leftwich, chairwoman of the Commission on the Status of Women, has
read studies that give clues to the answer, "but right now it's still a
puzzle to me."

After all, she says, there's nothing to suggest that Oklahoma women are any
meaner or less trustworthy than those in other states.

"I've been in other states and Oklahoma is pretty well known for how
pleasant our people are," she said. "Look how we respond, both men and
women, to a crisis."

A law directing the commission to advise the governor and lawmakers on
gender bias issues was amended this year to require the task force study on
the state's female incarceration rate.

At its first meeting last week, Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, was
elected chairwoman of the task force and state Sen. Dick Wilkerson,
D-Atwood, was named vice chairman.

Members heard statistics showing the vast majority of women are sent to
prison in Oklahoma for nonviolent offenses such as drug and alcohol abuse.

One statistic that caught the eye of Leftwich was that the state's arrest
rate is comparable to other states, possibly suggesting that women are
handled differently in the courts in Oklahoma than they are elsewhere.

Fallin said the commission should endeavor to protect society, but cutting
down on female imprisonment will be a help to families and children.

Among other things, the commission directed staff to look at such issues as
the use of methamphetamines, a growing problem, and the status of the
mental health of women inmates.

Both Wilkerson and Leftwich said they are concerned about reports the jails
and prisons are, in effect, serving as holding areas for the mentally ill.

Wilkerson said he also suspects there is racial bias as well as gender bias
in the system.

Jerry Massie, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said the extent
of the number of women in prison per capita in Oklahoma was not known until
recent years when they were separated in the calculation of incarceration
rates.

The task force was provided a copy of a survey conducted by the corrections
agency in 2002 of its female prison population.

It showed 43 percent of female inmates are minorities, including almost 20
percent who were black. Blacks comprise 7.6 percent of Oklahoma's total
population.

More than half of the female inmates reported having a high school
education or the equivalent and 20 percent had gone to college.

Fifty-eight percent lived with both parents as a child and about 50 percent
had been married only once, although 41 percent said they were divorced or
separated when sent to prison.

About 44 percent of the women had no prior sentences and 37 percent of the
inmates with prior sentences did not get in trouble as juveniles.

Thirty-five percent of the female inmates said they were sexually abused as
a child.

More than 71 percent had been involved in an abusive relationship,
including almost 60 percent with an intimate partner.

Eighty-one percent of the incarcerated women had children, with almost half
of the children under age 12.

Sixty-one percent said they had abused drugs and 33 percent said they
abused alcohol.

Asked if their parents abused drugs, 68 percent said "no," while 45 percent
said their parents abused alcohol.