Gender roles in the larger society are often reflected in prisons: Female inmates in most countries are confronted with prison conditions that are different from those of male prisoners. The goal of this study is to ascertain if the same holds true for Japan. We administered questionnaires to inmates in two prisons in Japan (N = 174) and conducted face-to-face interviews with officials in the same institutions concerning educational and vocational programs available to inmates. Our results indicate that fewer programs are found in prisons for females and that these programs reflect the traditional role of women in Japan.
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