Archive for Women’s Issues

| September 9, 2010
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“It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing” Screens at the Newburyport Film Fest

Newburyport Documentary Film FestivalThe Newburyport Documentary Film Festival, now in its third year, presents 20 films. Three judges will rate the films in a number of juried categories, and, in addition, an audience-adjudicated award will also be given.

This year, one of those films will be It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing from our very own Humane Exposures Films. The film is directed by the award-winning Alan Swyer, who is known for work ranging from The Buddy Holly Story to the recent documentaries such as Béisbol: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, which he has worked on with Andy Garcia.

It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing is executive-produced by Susan Madden Lankford, and is rooted in her work on downTown: USA and Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes. Here’s a sample of what the film has to offer: This is the trailer from the Humane Exposures Films YouTube Channel:

In his advance praise for It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing, Dr. Bruce Perry sums up the film with an almost Twitter-like brevity:

‘It makes long term economic sense to try and take care of these people in a humane way, and help them heal.’ — Bruce Perry, MD, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Child Trauma Academy

Experts agree that the film’s portrayal of our criminal justice system points to the need for and to the effectiveness of rehabilitation-oriented approaches over simple incarceration, especially when the critical aspect of recidivism is taken into full account:

‘In examining the indisputably recidivistic nature inherent in the contemporary practice focusing on the institutionalization of criminal offenders and comparing it with the documented potential found in numerous remedial programs that return nonviolent past offenders to society as self-sufficient and productive citizens, the documentary film ‘It’s More Expensive to Do Nothing’ makes a compelling case that more than justifies its factual title.’ — John Dean, author and former White House counsel

You can see It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing, as well as a host of other important works in the documentary genre, on September 24 through 26 in the historic downtown Newburyport, MA. The two venues, The Screening Room and The Firehouse Center for the Arts, will be the site of the film screenings during the film fest.

If you find yourself in MA on those dates, come on down and check out the film! It’s More Expensive To Do Nothing will be screened on Sunday, September 26, at 2:00 PM at The Screening Room. If you don’t want to take a chance on missing it, you can purchase tickets in advance.

Source: “Films Selected This Year,” Newburyport Documentary Film Festival, 09/10
Logo of The Newburyport Documentary Film Festival is used under Fair Use: Reporting.
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Category: downTown U.S.A., Events, Homelessness, Humane Exposures, It's More Expensive to Do Nothing, Juvenile Justice, Maggots in My Sweet Potatoes, Photography, Prison, Prison Reform, Women's Issues | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| September 7, 2010
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Once More, Rehabilitation Urged Over Incarceration

CDC poster, 1940

CDC Poster, 1940

In Dallas, there is a debate raging over the proper way to deal with prostitution offenders. On one side, a police officer Randy Watkins from Ft. Worth endorses the reintroduction of a bill increasing the penalties for offenders caught in or near community spaces. School yards, public parks, churches and child care facilities all being examples of the public spaces in question. Officer Watkins says that, once enacted, word of the higher sentences will act as a deterrent to further crime.

On the other side of the argument is Judge Peggy Hoffman, presiding judge of a special court that rehabilitates prostitution offenders. At a recent hearing by the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, she stated publicly that increased jail time would be the least effective way to stop the “revolving door” that keeps prostitutes on the streets.

Erin Mulvaney, a staff writer for The Dallas Morning News, reports:

Hoffman disagreed, saying that increasing the jail time would not deter women from committing the crime. In Dallas County, 98 percent of women charged with prostitution opted to take jail time. The average time served in jail for prostitution is 10 to 20 days. That costs the city of Dallas $56 a day.

Judge Hoffman, it appears, is not alone in sharing this view. Mulvaney reports:

State Rep. Paula Pierson, D-Arlington, agreed that more jail time may not be the answer.

‘I’m sure some women aren’t victims of child abuse, some might not be drug addicts, but the majority of them are victims. They have been victimized all their lives,’ Pierson said. ‘It’s a bigger problem, a complicated problem.’

Acknowledging the social complexity of the issue is a start, but there is much more to be done. Hoffman favors cracking down on those who promote and enable the prostitution in the first place:

Hoffman also called for increased penalties for the promotion of prostitution, the ‘pimps,’ and for the solicitors, or the ‘Johns.’ In fiscal year 2009, there were 61 arrests for the promotion of prostitution, compared with 2,500 for prostitution itself.

Pierson also stated that her office will be monitoring Hoffman’s special court to determine its effectiveness.

What are your thoughts on rehabilitation vs. incarceration? We would love to hear them in the comments!

Source: “Dallas County judge urges rehabilitation over long jail terms for prostitutes,” The Dallas Morning News, 09/01/10
Image by pingnews.com, used under its Creative Commons license.
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Category: Humane Exposures, Prison, Prison Reform, Substance Abuse, Women's Issues | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| August 19, 2010
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America’s Prison Plight

Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing TimeIt is no secret that the American prison system is rife with problems. It is the personal stories of women in our penal system that led our own Susan Madden Lankford to create Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Time, in which she juxtaposes black-and-white images taken in jails with quotes and personal narratives from the incarcerated.

This window into the incarcerated life, its hardships, and its social ramifications, is especially important in the modern day, a day when our penal system is bursting at the seams. David C. Fathi, director of the ACLU National Prison Project in Washington, D.C., attributes this to the “Three Strikes” laws and other mandatory minimum-sentencing laws. He asserts that the overly harsh sentencing is responsible for not only causing the prison population to skyrocket, but is also culpable for the fact that approximately one in 11 of the imprisoned are there for life.

There are many aspects to this breakdown. Craig Welkener of AOL News brings us some of the disturbing facts in his recent opinion piece on the subject. Take particular note of the last two items, which directly affect imprisoned females:

The problems with today’s prisons are well documented. Conditions are deplorable. Here are a few facts:

  • Federal prisons are being operated at 160 percent capacity. Mandatory minimum sentences are putting thousands of nonviolent offenders in prison, for disproportionately long terms.
  • Approximately two-thirds of prisoners released each year will be back behind bars in some form before three years have passed.
  • Mental health care is woefully inadequate.
  • Prison rape is a moral outrage rampant across America. More than 60,500 inmates reported sexual abuse in 2007 (the actual number of rapes is likely far higher), and nearly 1 out of every 8 juveniles in custody became a victim of sexual assault from 2008 to 2009, according to a Department of Justice study.
  • Most states still allow the shackling of women during labor and delivery, often causing permanent scars. This unnecessary and humiliating procedure is opposed by the American Medical Association, the Rebecca Project for Human Rights and virtually anyone else who knows about it.

In short, the system is not working.

Those last two items in particular seem like something from the Middle Ages, yet they are faced daily in modern America. All of the factors listed by Welkener contribute to the additional trouble that former inmates have in reintegrating themselves back into society.

Take a look inside these walls, a bracing look at fellow humans fighting circumstances that dehumanize: Take a look at Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Time. Unfiltered and presented in the words of the jailers and the imprisoned, it will take you into the chiaroscuro world of the female inmate, a world never seen before in quite this way.

Source: “Opinion: Why Obama Should Take on Prison Reform,” AOL News, 08/17/10
Image copyright Susan Madden Lankford, from the book “Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Time.” Used with permission.
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Category: Humane Exposures, Juvenile Justice, Prison, Prison Reform, Women's Issues | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| August 16, 2010
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eHow Covers Alternatives to Imprisonment for Women

Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing TimeThe issue of imprisoned women is the elephant in the room. A quick Google search reveals that it is a well-known problem, and one that is getting steadily worse. There’s even an article about alternatives to incarceration for women on the popular “how-to” website eHow.

The site includes simple directions on how to do a wide variety of things. From making a better paper airplane to instructions for electronics projects, there is a mass of instructional material there that has become a standard destination for web surfers. It is therefore interesting to see eHow’s approach to this delicate but important subject.

Kristine Paglio, an eHow contributing writer, sets the stage for her article on the subject with some quick background notes:

Women currently constitute the fastest-growing subset of offenders being incarcerated. In the United States, women make up 7 percent of the total prison population. Incarcerated women are usually convicted of non-violent or drug-related offenses, or as accessories to a crime. Due to the lack of their participation in violent crime, many women can be considered for alternatives to incarceration, as they do not pose a threat to society. Offering them alternatives to incarceration allows women to care for their children and acquire education and job skills, as well as participate in needed counseling or therapy.

Once more, we see the common thread that is turning up more and more frequently, an emphasis on reintegration with society rather than on meting out punishment. Several of our recent posts have touched on that very theme. The similarities continue when one looks at the specific approaches that address this issue. Paglio lists a number of them in her article:

These alternative programs include, but are not limited to: electronic monitoring (i.e., home confinement); parenting classes; educational programming (including G.E.D. acquisition); employability programs (which impart skills like cooking and data entry); abuse and victimization therapy (which teach offenders to break the cycle of relationship violence); supervised living (e.g., halfway houses); and day supervision (in which the offender must submit to drug testing, perform community service and observe a mandated curfew).

Trauma and substance-abuse issues must also be considered, since almost 60-70%  of incarcerated women have been  abused or victimized, have a substance abuse problem, and have children. Skill- and confidence-building programs such as those suggested above provide additional tools for the inmate to use in her reentry into larger society.

What are your thoughts on these alternative programs? Do you think that a more socially utilitarian approach, where reintegration into the greater whole is the main objective, is the way to proceed? Let us know!

Source: “Alternatives to Incarceration for Women,” eHow, undated
Image copyright Susan Madden Lankford, from the book “Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Time.” Used with permission.
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| August 10, 2010
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Across the Pond: Incarcerated Women in the U.K.

Maggots in my Sweet PotatoesThe situation of women in prison is well known to us at HUMANE EXPOSURES.

Our book, Maggots in My Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Time, is the first in a photojournalistic series addressing the social issues of child abuse and neglect, homelessness, incarceration, and the special needs of women behind bars. It would seem that the sort of personal narratives shared in that work are shared by the women incarcerated across the Atlantic in the U.K.

Thea C. Garland, a reporter for Global Post, sheds light on the changing view of women’s incarceration that arrived with the new administration last May. The new Secretary of Justice, Kenneth Clarke, has stated that he believes there is no link between falling crime rates and rising levels of imprisonment. Evidently, he has begun a campaign against short prison sentences. In addition, Prime Minister David Cameron seems to share his views, having called short jail terms “meaningless.”

Garland brings us some startling statistics about the global extent of these issues:

Not since the mid-19th century have there been so many women in British jails. Britain’s female prison population has increased 60 percent since 1997, compared to a 28 percent increase for men.

‘Practically every country in the world, rich and poor, is seeing their social fabric disintegrate as more and more women are being charged and held in custody, often long distances from families,’ the World Health Organization noted in a report last year.

The numbers that Garland reports for the U.S. are also unsettling:

While women make up only 7 percent of inmates in state and federal prisons in the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 2000 and 2008, the female prison population in America rose by 23 percent. More than half of women in federal prisons said they were mothers.

“Down under,” another former British colony is not exempt from the trend:

In Australia, the imprisonment rate for women rose by 209 percent between 1984 and 2003, but only 75 percent for men, according to the report ‘New Gender Rights for Women Prisoners and Offenders.’

In Maggots in My Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Time, the photographs of Susan Madden Lankford are accompanied by the words and stories of women and workers in a California women’s jail. These women’s crimes are often intertwined with prior abuse, mental health problems, and addiction issues. Garland holds a British mirror up to these narratives and finds the reflection to be quite similar:

A report by a British penal reform charity, The Prison Reform Trust, revealed that a staggering 70 percent of British female prisoners had two or more mental health problems; more than a third said they had attempted suicide at some point. More than half of women in British prisons had suffered from domestic violence and one in three had been sexually abused, according to the trust.

The Howard League for Penal Reform states that women account for roughly 50% of all incidents where harm was self-inflicted, but make up only 5 % of the total prison population. With a 50% rise in incidents of this nature between 2003 and 2007, the numbers look grim.

Follow the  link below to read  the rest of  Garland’s article — it is thoughtful and dense with information. When you’re done, stop back and let us know your thoughts.

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Source: “UK: When jail doesn’t work,”  The Global Post, 08/05/10
Image copyright Susan Madden Lankford, from the book “Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Time.” Used with permission.
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