Written by a journalist, this book depicts the day-to-day struggles and concerns of inmates a the Connecticut Correctional Institution in Niantic (renamed the Janet S. York correctional Institution), the state's only prison for women. Build in 1917 as a work farm for prostitutes, unwed mothers, and other women of allegedly immoral character, "the Farm," as it is still called, has long served as a barometer of prevailing social attitudes toward women.
In the summer of 1992, Andi Rierden obtained permission from the warden at Niantic to conduct research on life inside the institution. During the next three and a half years, she spent more than fifteen hundred hours among the women, recording interviews, strolling the grounds with inmates and corrections officers, sharing meals, attending classes and group counseling sessions, and tracking former inmates after their release.
The stories these women tell shed light ton a wide range of issues, from the effects of more stringent drug laws and sentences to the rise of violence among inmates. In the process it becomes clear that the ideal of rehabilitation has been largely abandoned and replaced by a belief in punishment and retribution.
In the summer of 1992, Andi Rierden obtained permission from the warden at Niantic to conduct research on life inside the institution. During the next three and a half years, she spent more than fifteen hundred hours among the women, recording interviews, strolling the grounds with inmates and corrections officers, sharing meals, attending classes and group counseling sessions, and tracking former inmates after their release.
The stories these women tell shed light ton a wide range of issues, from the effects of more stringent drug laws and sentences to the rise of violence among inmates. In the process it becomes clear that the ideal of rehabilitation has been largely abandoned and replaced by a belief in punishment and retribution.
An intelligent, absorbing look at prison reform and, more particularly, at the issue of women in prison.'—Kirkus Reviews
'[Rierden] spend three and a half years a Connecticut's on y prison for women . . . interviewing prisoners whose background often included urban violence, drugs, gangs, and abuse, as well as their counselors and correctional officers. The result is part sociological study, part hard-hitting journalistic account of the lives, past and present, of these women.'—Library Journal
'An insightful, thoughtful, and troubling account of how we as a society are dealing--or failing to deal--with one of our most intractable social problems'—Ronald Goldstock, American Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section
Andi Rierden is an adjunct professor of journalism at Fairfield University and frequently writes on urban issues for the Sunday New York Times.
