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8) An increasing proportion of women admitted to prison in Illinois had previously been sentenced to prison. Among women sentenced to prison in SFY 1989, less than 30 percent had previously been in prison; by SFY 2011, that proportion had increased to 43 percent;
9) As a result of changes in the types of crimes women have been sentenced to prison for, and a decrease in admissions from Cook County (Chicago) between SFY 2005 and 2011, the proportion of females sentenced to prison in Illinois accounted for by blacks has decreased, from more than 70 percent of all females sentenced to prison during the late 1990s to less than 50 percent among the SFY 2011 female court admissions. On the other hand, the proportion of female prison sentences accounted for by whites increased from roughly 20 percent in the mid- to late-1990s to almost 50 percent in SFY 2011;
10) There were a number of differences evident between the females and males admitted to prison in recent years, including women being slightly older than males, women being more likely to be a parent, women having slightly higher levels of educational achievement, and women being more likely than men to be sentenced and incarcerated in prison for less serious crime types and felony class offenses;
11) Females released from prison in Illinois tended to have lower recidivism rates than males, even after differences in offender characteristics and risk factors were taken into account. After roughly 3 years post-prison, 61 percent of women were rearrested for any new crime (compared to 70 percent among male releases), 15 percent of women were rearrested specifically for a crime of violence (compared to 31 percent of males), and 34 percent of women were returned to prison either as a result of a new prison sentence or violation of parole (compared to 51 percent of males).
