ABSTRACT
As I was putting the finishing touches to this chapter, the British press announced that the number of women in prison had reached an all-time high of 4,045. This figure amounts to a 20% increase over the previous year, or a 33% increase across the last decade. The Government's short-term response to this dramatic and disturbing growth has been to convert the infrastructure of male prisons to accommodate females. In the longer term, there are plans to open two new women's prisons (Ford 2001:1).
