AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
VALUE ORIENTATION OF CONVICTED WOMEN IN SLOVAKIA IN RELATION TO THEIR AGE AND EDUCATION
a
DOMINIKA TEMIAKOVÁ
Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of
Education, Dražovská 4, Nitra, Slovakia
email:
a
____________________________________________________
dtemiakova@ukf.sk
Abstract: The study presents adult convicted women`s value preferences at the
research sample of 186 women (29,5% of female respondents from the basic set)
employing the questionnaire method. We carried out our research in 2017, and we
aimed to find out the significance level of chosen values in relation to the variables of
age and the achieved level of education. Convicted women achieved the highest score
in values such as Health, Family, Freedom. The least important values were the values
such as Belief in God, Art and Travelling. Based on the statistical analysis using the
Spearman's rho coefficient we found out that there is a statistically significant
relationship between the age and two chosen values: Belief in God (rs=-0,173*) and
Family (rs=-0,202*). Similarly, we found out significant differences among
respondents in relation to their achieved level of education in the rate of the following
values: Education (x2=10,158; p=0,006), Freedom (x2=7,389; p=0,025), Children
(x2=8,617; p=0,013) and Work (x2=6,568; p=0,037) at the level p
≤0,05.
Keywords: age, level of education, prison, values, women
____________________________________________________
1 Introduction
„For a long time, women and prison were perceived as two
mutually unrelated entities, opposite poles or words that could
not be joined with a preposition „in“. The rate of women
participating in crime seemed to be so small and their offences
so irrelevant that dealing with women, in this respect, was
considered to be a waste of time. People did not perceive the
criminality of women as a social problem. They interpreted the
criminal behaviour of men and women as a consequence of their
insufficient physiological development, or an indication of their
evolutionary stunting.“ (Nedbálková, 2003, p. 469). However,
even today, sociologists still emphasise that prison is a typical
environment coded for men, although gender-specific features
are indisputable – convicted women differ from men in the
imprisonment sentence in many aspects. From the sociological
point of view, deprivation of men and women in prison differs
significantly, what is related to the difference between the male
and female statuses in broader society. While the male social
status depends on the work role, the female social status is based
mainly on the family role, participating in supporting and
emotional relationships (Ward, Kassebaum, 1965, cited in
Nedbálková, 2003, p. 473). We can also find a similar
explanation by Crowley (2019, p. 13). She says that „most
women who are admitted to prison are mothers and many have
primary care responsibilities for other family members. These
responsibilities and relationships can play a role in women`s
pathways to prison and are also fundamental to their
rehabilitation prospects. For mothers, separation from their
children can severely impact their mental wellbeing.“
Globally, convicted women form a statistically much smaller
group than convicted men. According to the Yearbook of Prison
and Court Guard Service from the year 2017 (2018), when we
carried out our research, in Slovakia, there were 7835 adult men
and 630 adult women in prison. Thus, the percentage rate
represented 92,56:7,44%. Kruttschnitt, Gartner (2003, p. 1) say
that „reasons include the relatively smaller number of female
felons, the generally less serious nature of their offending,
beliefs about the greater reformability – or at least tractability –
of women, assumptions about women`s peculiar psyches, and
conceptions of normative femininities.“ Furthermore, also the
gravity of committed crimes, i.e. the reasons why women get
into the enforcement of imprisonment sentence, are more
specific ones. „Women in prison often come from disadvantaged
backgrounds typically marked by economic deprivation,
substance abuse, violence and household disruption. Prisoners
also tend to have higher rates of illiteracy and lower levels of
education than the general population.“ (Crowley, 2019, p. 13).
For this reason, dealing with convicted women should naturally
differ from dealing with convicted men.
1.1 Research on convicted women
The long-term approach to dealing with men and women in
prison reflects similar tendencies running in the research area.
The first monograph about women`s imprisonment was the study
Women in Prison by authors Ward and Kassebaum from 1965.
Kruttschnitt, Gartner (2003, p. 1) say that „research on women in
prison and women`s prisons has, perhaps inevitably, been shaped
by many of the same facts and assumptions. Since the 1960s,
when a growing number of academics began to turn their
attention to female prisoners and women`s prisons, a major
theme has been the distinctiveness of female prisoners` needs,
disadvantages, and ways of adapting or responding to
imprisonment.“ Nedbálková (2003) emphasises that research
focuses on topics such as the etiology of women`s criminal
behaviour and dealing with women in the system of Criminal
Law and Judiciary. The research also studies the character of
informal social systems inside the prison and the adequacy of
imprisonment to respond to social problems.
In Slovak conditions, the research on convicted women has been
absent until now. Authors pay attention mainly to people
released from the imprisonment sentence because there is better
and easier access to respondents. A similar situation is also in the
Czech Republic because Urbanová, Večeřa (2003) say that
underestimating women`s criminality represents a danger. In
their opinion, although women commit less severe crimes, their
moral consequences are more significant. Thus, generally, in the
research on convicted women, it is still valid that „as many
scholars have noted, at best, [women] remain marginal to the
study and practice of imprisonment.“ (Moore, Scraton 2014,
cited in Crewe, Hulley, Wright, 2017, p. 1374). It is crucial to
change this situation because only with research, we can
understand the world of convicted women that significantly
differs from the world of convicted men. In this way, we can
make more efficient the re-socialisation methods and the general
way of dealing with these women and their imprisonment.
Similarly, Kruttschnitt, Gartner (2003. p. 1) emphasise that
„understanding of ways women negotiate power and construct
their lives in prison is greater than in the past; new theoretical
frameworks have provided important insights, but fundamental
questions remain unanswered.“
1.2 Value orientation of convicted people
Value is a primary axiologic category, and according to
Průcha,
Veteška (2014), we may define it as a generally accepted feature
(quality, significance, importance) that people attribute to
objects, phenomena, processes, events and society. Individuals,
groups, nations and countries` populations share values, and they
transmit them between generations. People acquire them by
socialisation and enculturation. Every cultural community has its
specific values which influence attitudes, norms of behaviour,
motivation and morality. The hierarchical organisation of values
is called a value orientation/value system. Value systems within
a specific community differ according to the age, gender, socio-
economic position and people`s achieved level of education.
Their characteristic feature is that these values change in time.
Urbanová, Večeřa (2003) say that values belong to essential
elements of social structure, and they may serve as significant
predictors for behaving of different social groups and
substructures.
A confrontation of an individual`s value orientation with the
society`s value system can generate a conflict. This conflict can
lead to the violation of social norms, and in extreme cases, to the
deprivation of an individual`s rights and freedom. Already
Cochrane (1971, p. 73), a pioneer in research on values and
value systems in relation to the emergence and development of
delinquent behaviour, emphasises that „persistent criminal
behaviour, almost by definition, implies that the criminal has a
value system which is, in some important ways, different from
that of other individuals who do not engage in criminal
- 321 -