Healthcare In Prisons

How does healthcare in prison stack up?

From Imprisoned Women’s Concepts of Health and Illness: The Implications for policy on Patient

I feel as though, from reading this article and discussing healthcare with the women at ICIW, women understand that they need better health care! It is just the matter of how to really incorporate it and highlighting it to others who have the power to help, but do not realize that this is serious issue. Below I have taken several excerpts from the text in order to prove that there are several different ways to help several different problems that arise within the women’s prison system.

One thing I have found within the article is there is a lack of education for women. There is no way for them to learn or expand their knowledge in regards to their own healthcare or in regards to “street” knowledge in light of how to live a healthy lifestyle. For example, within the text a woman’s response about health care was, “The drug itself does nothing. It’s the way you neglect yourself because you’re taking drugs.’’ This statement clearly shows that there needs to be better education- drugs do cause harm to one’s body, thoughts, and emotions. Women NEED to gain this knowledge in order to be successful when they reenter into society otherwise this is just another reason why women relapse and end up returning to the prison system.

However, I did notice within this statement, “while women took a positive view of health, seeing it as a resource not just an absence of disease, they were still able to accurately identify the key health problems facing women prisoners: drug addiction, mental health problems, and self-harm,” that they Do understand they need help. In fact they are asking for it in multiple ways without actually verbally stating that they want it (and my hypothesis is that they do not want to ask because they do not want to feel beneath anyone or feel like they are weak). So, maybe if we offer help and flat out ask what they need for healthcare in light of specific issues that they find to be the most important, then we could integrate programs that are effective- not at waste of money!!

Prison Healthcare

“Offenders are more likely to have learning disabilities, experience mental health problems, or have problems with drugs and alcohol, so many of the roles in prison healthcare focus on addressing these issues. With 72 percent of male and 70 per cent of female prisoners suffering from two or more mental disorders, some of the most challenging and rewarding roles in mental health nursing and psychiatry are in prison health. Of women sent to prison, almost 40 per cent say they have attempted suicide, so therapists and counselors and are also needed to help people at what can be a very low time in their life.”…I feel like this is almost a duh statement because this is stuff that is published everywhere, but no one does anything about it! Again, as I feel like I am repeating myself, in order to prevent these high percentages or issues with women in prison we need better rehabilitation programs that offer lifestyle, “street,” tactics that encourage and educate women to become better individuals because many DO need the help- it is not common sense for everyone especially when individuals have been incarcerated because they have been left out of society’s loop for a long duration of time… HELP WOMEN IN PRISON!

Hidden in Hell: Women in Prison

“Typically related to poverty, addiction, or prolonged abuse by men, women prisoners are disproportionately unhealthy to begin with. They have higher rates of HIV infection than all prisoners, who are collectively five times more likely to have AIDS than the general U.S. population. As many as 60 percent are infected with the hepatitis C virus. In defense of prison health providers, CMS spokesman Ken Fields says treating them is no simple matter, as incarceration is often "the first regular access prisoners have had to health care."”…..This was crazy to read! And it makes me feel like, once again, nothing is being done to help them rehabilitate and enter back into society as a bettered individual!

“Incarceration, however, can "increase the risk of infection, sexual assault, and improper medical care, or contribute to post-traumatic stress, disorder," according to the American Journal of Public Health. This statement transcends public and privately run facilities alike. Rape of women prisoners is rampant and often occurs with impunity. As many as one in four women have been raped in some facilities, according to the national organization Stop Prisoner Rape. Male prison employees routinely abuse their authority by exchanging "privileges" — such as food, basic hygiene products, or time with visiting family — for sex.”…..I found this to be completely disgusting that there is rape by the prison guards! It got me wondering if it happens at ICIW. I mean I could see it happening due to there being creep male prison guards(for instance that man that was showing us the lock-down units-EWW!), but as chatty, cliquey, and gossipy the women are I do not see the men getting away with it. It is totally outrageous that this shit happens!! I mean seriously men would stoop that low!? Ha that is a stupid question…Yet, just another reason why women’s prisons need to be taken care of in a much better way-it could avoid soooo many things down the road and could even prevent women from entering the prison system in the first place.

Women of the World

• We (the U.S.) have the highest incidence and deaths from breast cancer per 100,000 women (2000-2004), yet we do not have sufficient health in women’s prisions?
• There are up to 700,000 estimated rapes that occur in the USA each year, yet we do not find this to be important (meaning: treating the aftermath) outside and inside women’s prisons?
• We (the U.S.) the largest cosmetic market (in 2007), yet we do not teach health beauty to women in or outside of prison?

As I found these stats looking through the text, it almost angered me. I noticed so much we are not doing for women of today in not only the U.S., but throughout the entire world! The three most shocking stats that I found to be the most important to our prison studies are listed above. This shocked me because I felt like if there are women in prison, they are obviously there for a reason. So, why not help them to be better people when released back into society? These are obvious issues (that could be prevented) if there was more education about bettering oneself for not only society, but for them, their families, and their future. For example, if there was a better health care system within the prisons women could learn how to correctly perform personal breast exams to make sure, if they do find a lump, they catch it in early stages, women could learn ways to protect themselves from assault if caught in a situation where rape or abuse could occur, or women could learn how to better take care of themselves in which they would learn how to be a healthy individual and to not self sooth because they are not how they want to look or not the person they want to be. These are very simple things that could be incorporated and it could do an immense about of help to women across the country or even around the world!....Ugh it just frustrates me that there is no help sometimes for the individuals who truly need it, want it, and are thankful for it.

Chapter Ten: Care as a Cause- Framing the 21st century Mother’s Movement

When reading this chapter I kept thinking of several things: what I have learned throughout the semester in this course, what I have learned throughout the semester in my Work/Family Institutions course, and how I was raised.

This course:

“The normative model” (I do not know if this is the actual name or not) that Hamington and Miller describe, states that a specific quality and quantity of maternal devotion are essential for the optimal growth and development of children. I connected this with the women that we work with at ICIW in which many do not get this chance to have the right quality and quantity of devotion to their children due to incarceration. It brought me to the question- how can this improve for mothers who are incarcerated? I thought that since this is essential for families, and could possibly improve the rehabilitation process of the incarcerated, there needs to be a family center within women’s prisons. With a family center within the prison (including a place for new born babies, a place for toddlers, and a visiting area) this could really improve a family’s bonding time- to the point where the incarcerated may able to keep their children, rather than giving them to foster care or have that connection even though they are a distance apart.

It’s just a thought and I did not go through the details, but I do think it would help the connection between mothers and their children.

Work/Family Institutions

            The Work/Family course basically took this chapter and incorporated it throughout the entire semester! It was great to really see the nitty gritty because a lot of it I thought I knew, but I really did not.  I definitely learned a lot of what was in the chapter through that class, but it was good to see another source back that information up. J

Growing up

As I read this chapter I kept thinking about my mom. She divorced my father when my brother and I were at a young age, basically making her a single mom. She made sure we had the world, but I never realized what she had to do to make that happen until I was older…She worked her tail off to make sure that we had everything we wanted, were in everything we wanted to be in, and had all of the things that went along with each age. But I never realized that that was the impossible that some mothers couldn’t do. She made sure that she: had a career, dated, found time to be with friends, and enjoyed her life…all with two elementary age kids! Although, as I have seen that others can/do struggle with motherhood, I respect her and look up to her far more than anyone else in my life because of what she sacrificed for to have the best family she could!

Chapter One: Vicious Circles of Privatized Caring

In reading chapter one, I came across several excerpts that really triggered my thinking and in fact, brought upon some reasoning, within my own opinion, as to why it is so hard for individuals (incarcerated or not) to achieve equality within out American system.

Excerpt One:

The fist except I really took a liking to stated, “For a variety of complex reasons …people are not likely to recognize the care imbalance as a result of unequal power, economic and social inequality, and patterns of discrimination. Thus, they are unlikely to see that the care imbalance requires social responsibility and a collective response (Hamington and Miller, pg 15).” I thought this just summarized everything about care and why individuals struggle in addition to why there even is just a thing as care inequality! I mean, now I want to note this is just my opinion, individuals expect care on some level, but do they realize where that care is coming from? It is not just something that magically appears, as I believe that some individuals do think this way; other individuals have to care for people as their job, money has to be contributed to government funding, insurance, or funding is from out-of pocket. It just frustrates me that individuals do not see beyond their own needs to notice that this is a root of other issues at hand!!!!!

Care is a group effort, as it will be until time ends, and I just want people to understand that- it should not be expected unless there are individuals contributing….I could probably ramble on and on about this and how people are greedy and do not see the social responsibility in caring! But it is simple- if you want to be cared for, at some point you have to care for someone else and if we (as a country) stop worrying about who is ahead and who is not then we could realize that this inequality is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and taken care of within the entire realm of the country.

It’s like that old saying... if you give a little, you get a little. J

Excerpt Two:

            The second excerpt came from the conclusion section of the chapter in which I thought it brought a simple summarization of how to begin the task of caring for a nation; it states, “…This is not to say that care would be equal, but that the problem of care inequalities could be become a collective problem that we care about (Hamington and Miller, pg21).” I love this statement because, to me, it is saying that “care” is something that individuals do not care necessarily care about as a social realm/issue, but if the word could get out there that we could care about “care,” then more could be accomplished! I guess I more-so see it as: if “care” is not popular, then individuals do not care about “caring.” “Care” must become a popular force on a societal level in which individuals participate in the economic, social, and power level inequalities all in order to help “care” for others.

            At times I feel as though I get go back and forth between opinions (probably as you can see above), but it is hard to know what is right and wrong for society when individuals have so many ideals, motivations, morals, etc… that all coordinate with their own selfishness. I am by no means saying I am perfect or that I have the answer, but I just wish that “care” was not devalued the way it is today because if it was not there would not be this problem!