Looking for clues when buildings go bad - Boston.com
"Bullet fragments, bloodstains, and DNA are clues for crime investigators. But for construction forensics specialists like Von Salmi, a bit of mold or a rotten baseboard provides the telltale signs.
Salmi, of Von Salmi & Associates in Westminster, is on the trail of sloppy or incompetent contractors, trying to determine why a homeowner is facing catastrophic failures — such as roofing problems — after buying a new home or completing a renovation.
One of his most unusual cases involved $1 million worth of landscaping that shriveled a month after it was installed at a large coastal home. No one could pinpoint the cause. But Salmi, a former building contractor, ultimately discovered the culprit: saltwater in the well."
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Expert Panel: Weighing The Value Of A Test For Psychopaths : NPR
Expert Panel: Weighing The Value Of A Test For Psychopaths : NPR
"Many psychologists believe that psychopaths are almost bound by nature to commit crime. So if psychopaths can be accurately identified, their menace to society can be contained. That's the hope, at least.
But there is real debate about how to diagnose a psychopath and the usefulness of the tools available to do it. A test developed by psychologist Robert Hare called the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, or PCL-R, is widely used in the criminal justice system -- before trial, during sentencing and even in parole and death-penalty decisions -- to evaluate a person's psychopathic tendencies.
Some psychologists believe the PCL-R is a critical tool in predicting which offenders pose the greatest risk. Others see the test as too vulnerable to human bias and question its place in the criminal justice system. We asked three experts in the field of forensic psychology to weigh in."
"Many psychologists believe that psychopaths are almost bound by nature to commit crime. So if psychopaths can be accurately identified, their menace to society can be contained. That's the hope, at least.
But there is real debate about how to diagnose a psychopath and the usefulness of the tools available to do it. A test developed by psychologist Robert Hare called the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, or PCL-R, is widely used in the criminal justice system -- before trial, during sentencing and even in parole and death-penalty decisions -- to evaluate a person's psychopathic tendencies.
Some psychologists believe the PCL-R is a critical tool in predicting which offenders pose the greatest risk. Others see the test as too vulnerable to human bias and question its place in the criminal justice system. We asked three experts in the field of forensic psychology to weigh in."
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sarah Stern: Michelle Alexander on the Criminal (In)Justice System
Sarah Stern: Michelle Alexander on the Criminal (In)Justice System
"A single tear rolled down the cheek of Neill Franklin as he sat onstage wordlessly, in front of hundreds of people at Riverside Church in Harlem last Saturday. Franklin shifted in his chair, visibly uncomfortable, as the room fell silent.
"I am not proud," Franklin said, of his 34-year career in law enforcement. "The War on Drugs put police in a war against our people."
He spoke on a panel to discuss mass incarceration, deemed "America's most inconvenient truth" by Dr. Michelle Alexander. Her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, is an examination of racial inequality in America's criminal justice system. The U.S. has an extraordinarily high incarceration rate, with 1 out of every 31 adults incarcerated, on parole or on probation. In some states, like Georgia, that rate is 1 in 13."
"A single tear rolled down the cheek of Neill Franklin as he sat onstage wordlessly, in front of hundreds of people at Riverside Church in Harlem last Saturday. Franklin shifted in his chair, visibly uncomfortable, as the room fell silent.
"I am not proud," Franklin said, of his 34-year career in law enforcement. "The War on Drugs put police in a war against our people."
He spoke on a panel to discuss mass incarceration, deemed "America's most inconvenient truth" by Dr. Michelle Alexander. Her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, is an examination of racial inequality in America's criminal justice system. The U.S. has an extraordinarily high incarceration rate, with 1 out of every 31 adults incarcerated, on parole or on probation. In some states, like Georgia, that rate is 1 in 13."
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Flogging Could Answer U.S. Prison Problems (Seriously): Books
Flogging Could Answer U.S. Prison Problems (Seriously): Books
"May 25 (Bloomberg) -- "In Defense of Flogging" isn't a joke, a satire or a thought experiment. Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore cop who's now a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, seriously wants to reintroduce corporal punishment in the United States.
Don't laugh: He makes a convincing case. From the straightforward question he begins with -- "Given the choice between five years in prison and 10 brutal lashes, which would you choose?" -- he had my attention.
Moskos isn't a sadist or a fetishist. In fact, he finds flogging distasteful. (He describes the physical effects in graphic detail: "skin is literally ripped from the body," etc.)
But he's far more outraged by the American penal system, which incarcerates the largest total number (2.3 million) and the largest per capita proportion (750 per 100,000) of prisoners of any country in the world. When the U.S. has criticized China on human-rights issues, Beijing has had the satisfaction of pointing to these figures in response."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/24/bloomberg1376-LLNW4Z1A74E901-2PR8D2COUBJILAS1EARFBQBITJ.DTL#ixzz1NNbCQmjZ
"May 25 (Bloomberg) -- "In Defense of Flogging" isn't a joke, a satire or a thought experiment. Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore cop who's now a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, seriously wants to reintroduce corporal punishment in the United States.
Don't laugh: He makes a convincing case. From the straightforward question he begins with -- "Given the choice between five years in prison and 10 brutal lashes, which would you choose?" -- he had my attention.
Moskos isn't a sadist or a fetishist. In fact, he finds flogging distasteful. (He describes the physical effects in graphic detail: "skin is literally ripped from the body," etc.)
But he's far more outraged by the American penal system, which incarcerates the largest total number (2.3 million) and the largest per capita proportion (750 per 100,000) of prisoners of any country in the world. When the U.S. has criticized China on human-rights issues, Beijing has had the satisfaction of pointing to these figures in response."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/24/bloomberg1376-LLNW4Z1A74E901-2PR8D2COUBJILAS1EARFBQBITJ.DTL#ixzz1NNbCQmjZ
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Construction Forensic Specialist Nails Down Problems - The Job Doc Blog - Boston.com
Construction Forensic Specialist Nails Down Problems - The Job Doc Blog - Boston.com
"Whodunit? Bullet fragments, bloodstains, and DNA samples are the clues for crime investigators. But for construction forensics specialists like Von Salmi, telltale signs can range from a bit of mold or a rotten baseboard, often symptomatic of a bigger issue. Instead of solving grisly murders, Salmi, of Von Salmi & Associates in Westminster, is on the trail of sloppy contractors or incompetent subcontractors, trying to determine why a homeowner is facing catastrophic failures – such as flooding, construction defects or roofing problems – in a new home or following a renovation. He’s also hired as an expert witness in arbitration and litigation cases. “Many people are at the point of last resort; they don’t have a lot of money to retain an attorney, so they have me investigate, identify the problem, and recommend the proper fix,” said Salmi. "
"Whodunit? Bullet fragments, bloodstains, and DNA samples are the clues for crime investigators. But for construction forensics specialists like Von Salmi, telltale signs can range from a bit of mold or a rotten baseboard, often symptomatic of a bigger issue. Instead of solving grisly murders, Salmi, of Von Salmi & Associates in Westminster, is on the trail of sloppy contractors or incompetent subcontractors, trying to determine why a homeowner is facing catastrophic failures – such as flooding, construction defects or roofing problems – in a new home or following a renovation. He’s also hired as an expert witness in arbitration and litigation cases. “Many people are at the point of last resort; they don’t have a lot of money to retain an attorney, so they have me investigate, identify the problem, and recommend the proper fix,” said Salmi. "
Monday, May 23, 2011
Texas lawmakers in lockstep on juvenile-justice reform efforts | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Texas lawmakers in lockstep on juvenile-justice reform efforts Houston & Texas News Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
"AUSTIN — Every day, lawmakers entering the Texas House face a gantlet of advocates handing out "one-pagers" - flyers promoting or bashing the bills scheduled for debate that day - usually signed by several like-minded organizations.
The one-pager touting this year's reorganization of the Texas juvenile justice system, however, carried an endorsement by the strangest of political bedfellows this session: the liberal Texas Appleseed and the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Their joint endorsement blessed the latest milestone in a five-year transformation of the Texas criminal justice system, perhaps the one area in state government where the left and right have found common ground — in the shared belief that prisons cost too much and accomplish little.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7575646.html#ixzz1NBnRoxnc"
"AUSTIN — Every day, lawmakers entering the Texas House face a gantlet of advocates handing out "one-pagers" - flyers promoting or bashing the bills scheduled for debate that day - usually signed by several like-minded organizations.
The one-pager touting this year's reorganization of the Texas juvenile justice system, however, carried an endorsement by the strangest of political bedfellows this session: the liberal Texas Appleseed and the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Their joint endorsement blessed the latest milestone in a five-year transformation of the Texas criminal justice system, perhaps the one area in state government where the left and right have found common ground — in the shared belief that prisons cost too much and accomplish little.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7575646.html#ixzz1NBnRoxnc"
Friday, May 20, 2011
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON:PART V
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON:PART V
IACFP: What kinds of outcomes has your research revealed?
SC: What we’ve found is a decrease in drug use, a decrease in the symptoms of depression and anxiety, and a decrease in the symptoms of trauma.
IACFP: Do you have information our members can follow up with?
SC: Yes. For more information, members may go to the Center for Gender and Justice
( www.centerforgenderandjustice.org ) and my link, www.stephaniecovington.com
IACFP: Last year you were on the Oprah Winfrey show “Breaking down the bars.”
What was your experience like, and what happened as a result of your being on her show starting February 16, 2011?
SC: It was an interesting experience. There were seven episodes on the OWN network, based on work in the women’s prison in Rockville, Indiana. They selected about 8-9 women for me to work with for this show. I wanted people to see who the women are in prison and the impact of drugs on their lives. I was really surprised when women (and men) e-mailed (or called ) me after seeing one of the shows because they were in crisis. There is such desperation in some people’s lives and they do not know where to go for help. The other surprise was the women who talked about watching the show with their teen-aged daughters, whose daughters were saying “Wow, you can make one mistake and it can impact your life. We want young people to see this can happen inadvertently and in a split second.
At this point, we concluded our interview and promised to stay in touch.
----------------
For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
IACFP: What kinds of outcomes has your research revealed?
SC: What we’ve found is a decrease in drug use, a decrease in the symptoms of depression and anxiety, and a decrease in the symptoms of trauma.
IACFP: Do you have information our members can follow up with?
SC: Yes. For more information, members may go to the Center for Gender and Justice
( www.centerforgenderandjustice.org ) and my link, www.stephaniecovington.com
IACFP: Last year you were on the Oprah Winfrey show “Breaking down the bars.”
What was your experience like, and what happened as a result of your being on her show starting February 16, 2011?
SC: It was an interesting experience. There were seven episodes on the OWN network, based on work in the women’s prison in Rockville, Indiana. They selected about 8-9 women for me to work with for this show. I wanted people to see who the women are in prison and the impact of drugs on their lives. I was really surprised when women (and men) e-mailed (or called ) me after seeing one of the shows because they were in crisis. There is such desperation in some people’s lives and they do not know where to go for help. The other surprise was the women who talked about watching the show with their teen-aged daughters, whose daughters were saying “Wow, you can make one mistake and it can impact your life. We want young people to see this can happen inadvertently and in a split second.
At this point, we concluded our interview and promised to stay in touch.
----------------
For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON: PART IV
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON: PART IV
IACFP: Do you think that staff who provide “trauma-informed services” to women ought to be women?
SC: There is a sense (among female inmates) that there is more safety with female officers. Often women will say “I’d rather have a female counselor. It’s a sense of safety and just the comfortability of talking about what happened.”
IACFP: Is it important that the person who provides trauma-informed treatment ought to have resolved their own traumas? For example, should people have an understanding of addiction based in their own lives in order to better treat addicts?
SC: I think you have to have some understanding of the process of addiction, even if it’s to cigarettes, coffee, or chocolate. It is important that you understand your relationship with whatever you use as a coping strategy and realize how you would feel if you had to give it up.This will help you have a sense of how addiction works.
If people who are trauma survivors haven’t done any work on their own life experience, then it is going to be difficult for them to work with trauma issues in another person’s life. They’re at risk of often being triggered. We always want to be a step or two ahead of our clients.
IACFP: What kind of materials have you developed and implemented in your work in the criminal justice system?
SC: I have several programs. There is a program for treating addiction called “Helping Women Recover.” We’ve used that in over 1,000 different programs across the county. “Beyond Trauma” is a trauma specific treatment program and I’ve made this new shorter version one called “Healing Trauma.” I also have a Twelve Step program for women entitled “A Woman’s Way through The Twelve Steps.” This is designed to help women understand the 12 steps from a female point of view. The girl’s program is entitled “Voices.” For the Michigan Department of Corrections, I developed “Beyond Violence” a prevention program for women who have committed violent/ aggressive crimes. Many places have used these program materials, many people have been trained to use them, and we’ve done research on them to demonstrate their effectiveness.
Check back tomorrow for the final posting of the interview.
----------------
For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
IACFP: Do you think that staff who provide “trauma-informed services” to women ought to be women?
SC: There is a sense (among female inmates) that there is more safety with female officers. Often women will say “I’d rather have a female counselor. It’s a sense of safety and just the comfortability of talking about what happened.”
IACFP: Is it important that the person who provides trauma-informed treatment ought to have resolved their own traumas? For example, should people have an understanding of addiction based in their own lives in order to better treat addicts?
SC: I think you have to have some understanding of the process of addiction, even if it’s to cigarettes, coffee, or chocolate. It is important that you understand your relationship with whatever you use as a coping strategy and realize how you would feel if you had to give it up.This will help you have a sense of how addiction works.
If people who are trauma survivors haven’t done any work on their own life experience, then it is going to be difficult for them to work with trauma issues in another person’s life. They’re at risk of often being triggered. We always want to be a step or two ahead of our clients.
IACFP: What kind of materials have you developed and implemented in your work in the criminal justice system?
SC: I have several programs. There is a program for treating addiction called “Helping Women Recover.” We’ve used that in over 1,000 different programs across the county. “Beyond Trauma” is a trauma specific treatment program and I’ve made this new shorter version one called “Healing Trauma.” I also have a Twelve Step program for women entitled “A Woman’s Way through The Twelve Steps.” This is designed to help women understand the 12 steps from a female point of view. The girl’s program is entitled “Voices.” For the Michigan Department of Corrections, I developed “Beyond Violence” a prevention program for women who have committed violent/ aggressive crimes. Many places have used these program materials, many people have been trained to use them, and we’ve done research on them to demonstrate their effectiveness.
Check back tomorrow for the final posting of the interview.
----------------
For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
Thursday, May 19, 2011
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON: PART III
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON: PART III
IACFP: We’re always looking for ways to streamline interventions and provide effective services in shorter periods of time so we can provide services to larger numbers of folks over time. Does the idea of “trauma informed services” facilitate that kind of intervention?
SC. First, I would like to juxtapose the concepts of “trauma-informed services” and trauma-specific services. Trauma-specific,” meaning you’re providing some kind of intervention for a trauma survivor, whereas “Trauma-informed services” is based on the idea there is so much abuse, violence, and trauma in the world that anyone who works with people—doctors, nurses, school teachers, correctional officers—needs to become trauma informed so that when they go about their daily work they’re not reactivating the trauma and making things worse. Trauma-informed means teaching people what trauma is, what general responses are, and helping people have coping skills, both the person who is the employee as well as the person they may be working with.
The best example I can give is a dentist I have worked with. She realized that the dentist’s office has a lot of triggers for people who are trauma survivors. So she has become “trauma informed.” We need to be educating staff working in the institutions about trauma.
The other thing I’ve done, I have written Beyond Trauma, which is an 11-session intervention which is used in a lot of correctional institutions. I’ve just taken that and reduced it to 5 sessions, particularly for domestic violence shelters and jails and prisons because it’s a very short and brief intervention that can actually be facilitated by non-clinical staff. Many places need shorter, briefer interventions. Hazelden will have this available in June.
I think the concept of “trauma informed” is really important and useful language. When you look at what it is, fundamentally it means we’re providing better services.
You might be interested in knowing that Roger Fallot and Maxine Harris wrote a book several years ago called Designing trauma-informed systems of care, published by Jossey Bass. They’ve done a lot of work in this area It’s a critical component in training helping professionals. The concept is useful in the training of doctors, nurses, teachers….and correctional staff.
IACFP: What do you think are some of the most important considerations for staff providing this kind of service?
SC: I think people really need to understand what abuse is and what trauma is. I think that’s true for both staff as well as the people who are participating in services. We see many women in denial of experiences that have actually been abusive. I think staff also often don’t know what trauma is, and many of them come from backgrounds of abuse and have experienced trauma, and their method of dealing with it has just been to “wall it off.”
The women and the staff need to know what typical responses are, and that all of a sudden some behavior could be the result of something that’s happened in the past. When staff understand this then they have the capacity to respond differently. And I think staff also need to have coping skills for how to deal with difficult situations, and the women themselves need coping skills. So all three of these things are critical.
We find with correctional officers you get a certain amount of resistance, but one of the things we’ve found most useful in getting their attention is using the ACE study (The Adverse Childhood Experiences study) which has 10 questions. I have them answer the 10 questions for themselves as well as a typical woman they might work with. This is a very powerful tool from a study of 17,000 people—Kaiser, an HMO in San Diego, asked 10 questions to 17,000 people, based on early childhood experiences before age 18. They found if people had a score of 5 or more on this 10-question scale, these were the people at highest risk for alcoholism, obesity, smoking, and injecting illegal drugs. If they had a score of 6 or more, it (these risks) decreased their longevity by 20 years. The highest impact was on mental health. The same study was taken into the California prison. If a woman had a score of 7 or more, it increased her risk of having mental health problems by 980%.
Look for the work of Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda for additional information on this. .
When correctional officers take this questionnaire…they begin to listen more about the women. Then we talk about being “trauma informed.”
Check back tomorrow for Part IV of V.
----------------
For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
IACFP: We’re always looking for ways to streamline interventions and provide effective services in shorter periods of time so we can provide services to larger numbers of folks over time. Does the idea of “trauma informed services” facilitate that kind of intervention?
SC. First, I would like to juxtapose the concepts of “trauma-informed services” and trauma-specific services. Trauma-specific,” meaning you’re providing some kind of intervention for a trauma survivor, whereas “Trauma-informed services” is based on the idea there is so much abuse, violence, and trauma in the world that anyone who works with people—doctors, nurses, school teachers, correctional officers—needs to become trauma informed so that when they go about their daily work they’re not reactivating the trauma and making things worse. Trauma-informed means teaching people what trauma is, what general responses are, and helping people have coping skills, both the person who is the employee as well as the person they may be working with.
The best example I can give is a dentist I have worked with. She realized that the dentist’s office has a lot of triggers for people who are trauma survivors. So she has become “trauma informed.” We need to be educating staff working in the institutions about trauma.
The other thing I’ve done, I have written Beyond Trauma, which is an 11-session intervention which is used in a lot of correctional institutions. I’ve just taken that and reduced it to 5 sessions, particularly for domestic violence shelters and jails and prisons because it’s a very short and brief intervention that can actually be facilitated by non-clinical staff. Many places need shorter, briefer interventions. Hazelden will have this available in June.
I think the concept of “trauma informed” is really important and useful language. When you look at what it is, fundamentally it means we’re providing better services.
You might be interested in knowing that Roger Fallot and Maxine Harris wrote a book several years ago called Designing trauma-informed systems of care, published by Jossey Bass. They’ve done a lot of work in this area It’s a critical component in training helping professionals. The concept is useful in the training of doctors, nurses, teachers….and correctional staff.
IACFP: What do you think are some of the most important considerations for staff providing this kind of service?
SC: I think people really need to understand what abuse is and what trauma is. I think that’s true for both staff as well as the people who are participating in services. We see many women in denial of experiences that have actually been abusive. I think staff also often don’t know what trauma is, and many of them come from backgrounds of abuse and have experienced trauma, and their method of dealing with it has just been to “wall it off.”
The women and the staff need to know what typical responses are, and that all of a sudden some behavior could be the result of something that’s happened in the past. When staff understand this then they have the capacity to respond differently. And I think staff also need to have coping skills for how to deal with difficult situations, and the women themselves need coping skills. So all three of these things are critical.
We find with correctional officers you get a certain amount of resistance, but one of the things we’ve found most useful in getting their attention is using the ACE study (The Adverse Childhood Experiences study) which has 10 questions. I have them answer the 10 questions for themselves as well as a typical woman they might work with. This is a very powerful tool from a study of 17,000 people—Kaiser, an HMO in San Diego, asked 10 questions to 17,000 people, based on early childhood experiences before age 18. They found if people had a score of 5 or more on this 10-question scale, these were the people at highest risk for alcoholism, obesity, smoking, and injecting illegal drugs. If they had a score of 6 or more, it (these risks) decreased their longevity by 20 years. The highest impact was on mental health. The same study was taken into the California prison. If a woman had a score of 7 or more, it increased her risk of having mental health problems by 980%.
Look for the work of Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda for additional information on this. .
When correctional officers take this questionnaire…they begin to listen more about the women. Then we talk about being “trauma informed.”
Check back tomorrow for Part IV of V.
----------------
For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON
GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON: PART II
IACFP: Do you think the stereotypic belief “once a criminal always a criminal” is applied to female offenders as it is to males?
SC: The same perception exists. I think the concept of the “criminal mind” has reinforced this belief. The reality is, as you and I know, the majority of people—males and female—who are in these institutions are there because of drug addiction, not because of their criminal mind. I always ask wardens of women’s facilities what percentage of the women under their custody do they believe could be supervised in the community, and usually I’m told about 75%. And then in our communities there are many barriers to re-entry; if you’re a drug felon you can’t get public housing, you can’t get grants to go to school…can’t get food stamps. I could murder somebody and get food stamps. There is a great deal of ignorance about women in correctional settings and a lot of short-sightedness.”
Because of the Oprah TV show, there are blogs so people can write in their responses to the show. Most of those writing online had positive things to say about the show. Often people commented on how much they had learned about women in prison. However, there were some who wrote things like: “I can’t believe anyone would waste their time to show these horrible women or don’t let any of these women come into my community. Some people are hostile and angry. I’ve also met people who don’t think that people who commit a crime should ever be given anything. They don’t realize that most of these women are just like your next door neighbor.” There is this lack of generosity…’I don’t want anybody to get anything I’ve worked really hard for.’ It’s very shortsighted.
I think there is just a lot of mythology and ignorance about our criminal justice system and who is there.
IACFP: Do you think it’s really possible to successfully do the work you propose and have been doing in a prison setting?
SC. It is. There are places in the country…or little pockets inside institutions…where you can do gender-responsive and trauma-informed work in a therapeutic environment. It always takes support at the top. In various settings, we are able to provide programs, make changes, and do things a little differently. Women do well when they’re given what they need. We saw this in a research study funded by NIDA in a California prison, and I’m currently working in Michigan with their Department of Corrections. We’ve made quite a few changes there, and we’re also running a pilot project in the MDoC. In the California project, twelve months post- release, we had decreased recidivism by 67%. So yes, it’s possible…but not necessarily easy.
Currently I am also working with women who are lifers or have long-term sentences What I’m trying to do is help them not only receive programming, but to also select those who are appropriate to receive training to be co-facilitators of some of the program material I have developed. Thus helping them to have a meaningful job.
Check back tomorrow for Part III of V
----------------
For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
IACFP: Do you think the stereotypic belief “once a criminal always a criminal” is applied to female offenders as it is to males?
SC: The same perception exists. I think the concept of the “criminal mind” has reinforced this belief. The reality is, as you and I know, the majority of people—males and female—who are in these institutions are there because of drug addiction, not because of their criminal mind. I always ask wardens of women’s facilities what percentage of the women under their custody do they believe could be supervised in the community, and usually I’m told about 75%. And then in our communities there are many barriers to re-entry; if you’re a drug felon you can’t get public housing, you can’t get grants to go to school…can’t get food stamps. I could murder somebody and get food stamps. There is a great deal of ignorance about women in correctional settings and a lot of short-sightedness.”
Because of the Oprah TV show, there are blogs so people can write in their responses to the show. Most of those writing online had positive things to say about the show. Often people commented on how much they had learned about women in prison. However, there were some who wrote things like: “I can’t believe anyone would waste their time to show these horrible women or don’t let any of these women come into my community. Some people are hostile and angry. I’ve also met people who don’t think that people who commit a crime should ever be given anything. They don’t realize that most of these women are just like your next door neighbor.” There is this lack of generosity…’I don’t want anybody to get anything I’ve worked really hard for.’ It’s very shortsighted.
I think there is just a lot of mythology and ignorance about our criminal justice system and who is there.
IACFP: Do you think it’s really possible to successfully do the work you propose and have been doing in a prison setting?
SC. It is. There are places in the country…or little pockets inside institutions…where you can do gender-responsive and trauma-informed work in a therapeutic environment. It always takes support at the top. In various settings, we are able to provide programs, make changes, and do things a little differently. Women do well when they’re given what they need. We saw this in a research study funded by NIDA in a California prison, and I’m currently working in Michigan with their Department of Corrections. We’ve made quite a few changes there, and we’re also running a pilot project in the MDoC. In the California project, twelve months post- release, we had decreased recidivism by 67%. So yes, it’s possible…but not necessarily easy.
Currently I am also working with women who are lifers or have long-term sentences What I’m trying to do is help them not only receive programming, but to also select those who are appropriate to receive training to be co-facilitators of some of the program material I have developed. Thus helping them to have a meaningful job.
Check back tomorrow for Part III of V
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For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org
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