Hidden Healers

The Unexpected Ways Women in Prison Help Each Other Survive

Covington, Stephanie S.

1. Auflage Juni 2024
272 Seiten, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd

ISBN: 978-1-394-25439-2

John Wiley & Sons

Wiley Online Library Probekapitel

Weitere Versionen

A gripping and deeply-felt examination of incarcerated women's lives

With unflinching clarity, Hidden Healers cuts through the myths about incarcerated women to expose the all-too-real brutalities they face within a criminal legal system never designed for them. Backed by three decades' experience providing therapeutic programs inside prisons across the United States, trauma specialist Dr. Stephanie Covington has used her unique access to amplify the voices of the women themselves. Their stories illuminate realities most never see: that most women who get caught up in the criminal justice system have themselves been victims of harm, that the degradations of today's prisons and jails only magnify their trauma- and that incarcerated women regularly risk punishment to tend to one another's well-being in unexpected acts of kindness. Grounded in research and rich with personal narrative, Hidden Healers is a poignant and riveting look inside women's prisons and jails- and what we can do to help.

Acknowledgments xxi

A Note From a Hidden Healer: It's Time for Change xxiii

Introduction 1

Just the Facts 11

Part One: Entering the System 23

Introduction to the Criminal Legal System for Women in the United States 25

Pathways to Prison: Understanding Trauma and Addiction 43

First Days 51

Part Two: Living Inside 61

Culture and Environment 63

Working Inside the Culture of Corrections 81

Finding Your Program 83

Food 97

Mothering from Inside 107

Grief and Loss 123

Developing Relationships 129

Medical and Mental Health Care 141

Aging in Custody 153

Celebrating Special Days 159

Remembering Those Who Don't Survive 168

Part Three: The Journey Home 171

Gate Fever 173

The Work of Reentry 179

Healing after Incarceration 187

Part Four: What We Can Do 193

Envisioning Alternatives 195

Do One Small Thing 207

Further Learning 213

Organizations to Support 219

Sources 227

Author Biography 235

Book Group Discussion Questions 237

Also by the Author 239

"Hidden Healers is an important book because it reveals so much about the absurdity of calling our justice system for women, 'just.' It is not an easy book to read because Stephanie Covington, one of our country's wise women, is merciless in her descriptions of what it is like for a woman to be sent to jail or prison. At the same time, the reader is accompanied on this journey by incarcerated women who are the 'hidden healers,' clearly demonstrating the time-honored caregiving that women provide for each other under adverse conditions. This book should be a mandatory part of the curriculum of every law school in the country. Every future prosecutor, or judge should know what they are expecting the woman who stands before them to endure, and every FUTURE defender should be aware of what is at stake."
--Sandra L. Bloom, M.D., Associate Professor, Health Management and Policy, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"Dr. Covington writes in an informed and impassioned voice about what she has learned and the women she has learned it from during 30 years working in prisons and jails. Hers is a voice of intelligence and compassion, pragmatism and hopefulness honed by the sharp edges of the reality of our prisons and jails. As important as her earlier work was, and the importance of the contributions they made, the voices of the women with whom she has worked and from whom she has learned makes this her most personal, and most important book. This is a 'must read' for everyone interested in prisons and jails today."
--Martin F. Horn, Secretary of Corrections, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (ret.), New York City Correction Commissioner (ret.)

Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, LCSW is an internationally recognized pioneer in the fields of addiction, trauma, and gender-responsive care. For three decades she has created and facilitated trauma-informed programs and curricula for use in criminal-legal settings across the United States and globally. Educated at Columbia University and the Union Institute, Dr. Covington is co-director of the Institute for Relational Development and the Center for Gender & Justice in Del Mar, California.

S. S. Covington, Columbia University