The custom of dowry in Indian marriages is a deep‐seated cultural phenomenon. India's greatest social failures are the extraordinarily high levels of gender inequality and female deprivation. The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 that outlawed the practice has been remarkably unsuccessful in reducing the frequency of its occurrence. This Act did not eliminate the demand for dowry, which is still practiced openly in India by giving another name to it, such as share of the bride. Dowry as an ancient custom existed in India and other countries as a sign of a gift at the time of Kanyadana . The term Kanyadana means giving the bride as a gift to the bridegroom's family. Dowry is currently understood as a transfer of assets from the bride's family to the groom's family at the time of a marriage, when property and various gifts are transferred to the groom's family.
There has been a profound change in the involvement of women within the US criminal justice system. Women form about 5% of prison inmates and most of them are held in prisons that house only women. Women are the fastest‐growing population of inmates within state and federal prisons. The number of women in prison who were sentenced to more than one year increased by 1,900 offenders (up 2%) in 2014 from 104,300 in 2013 to 106,200. A prominent reason for the increase in women's incarceration resides in the stringent prosecution of drug‐related offenses – possession, distribution, and forgery/uttering for drugs. The majority of women in prison (67%) come from minority ethnic backgrounds. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than a third of females sentenced to more than one year were incarcerated for violent offenses; property offenses and drug offenses were the next most prevalent offenses.
Alternatives to incarceration include intensive court and community supervision. Alternatives to incarceration can also include attempts to repair harms suffered by victims, to provide benefits to the community, to treat the drug addicted or mentally ill, and to rehabilitate offenders. Alternatives to incarceration may also reduce prison and jail costs as well as being effective in reducing reoffending. Prison or jail time separates offenders from the community, spouses, and children; but incarceration alternatives keep offenders in the community and with their families (where they have families) and facilitate the retention of employment (where the offender is employed). Alternatives to incarceration are considered appropriate sentences for nonviolent and nonserious offenders. Probation, community services, and restitution, in particular, are seen as appropriate alternatives to incarceration.
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