Foreign Women in prison ¿How do we deal with this cultural diversity?

Abstract

Foreign Women who serve their sentence constitute a collective with their own identity, with a profile that differs from the nationals. Furthermore, in this group, we identify two different situations regarding their migratory project: the ones who already lived in Spain before getting into prison, and that emigrated mainly because of economic issues, and the ones who had been arrested at borders and did not count with a vital trajectory in the country. We have considered recognizing the bases of the cultural diversity management in prisons, paying special attention to gender issues. For that purpose, we analyze the characteristics of these women, and we revise the programs that are taking place in those institutions. We project the need of a socio-educational management of the ethnic and cultural diversity in prisons, taking into account that it presents itself as a possibility rather than a barrier.