Penitentiary Treatment in Mexico: A Comparison between Men's and Women's Situation

Some researchers on human behavior declare that men and women have similar behavioral options, as they are living organisms which respond to the stimuli in their environment and they have language as a conventional medium of contact (Ribes et al., 2008). This work presents the results of a comparative study between penitentiary treatment for men and women in Mexico. On the one hand, a review of documents was made to estimate the differences in operation between men's and women's penitentiaries in Mexico; on the other hand, we expose the reactions of a focus group integrated by penitentiary personnel working in a women's correctional center. It was found that there exists a differentiated treatment between men and women in prison that does not seem naturally justified, nor juridically pertinent. Starting from the penitentiary administration, a distinct treatment was observed between male and female inmates. Even if men correctional facilities have been improving in last years, omissions, anti-constitutional practices and misstatements are still often seen in women correctional centers. Besides this, a comparative discourse is maintained among correctional officers, being more negative for those who work in women's penitentiaries, and transmitting a generalized feeling of abandon due to the lack of government support.