Mütter in Haft

Prison and Parenthood

I did not realize that 80% of incarcerated women are mothers of school-age or preschool-age children. That is HUGE! I am a big fan of personal narrative, and with the “Mothers in Prison, Women’s Autobiography, and Activism” article as a first taste, I’m excited (and nervous) to hear the ICIW women’s stories and personal experiences. The “Reentry and Renegotiating Motherhood: Maternal Identity and Success on Parole” article fits well with the research I did. It seems there is very little, and poor, programming to help women negotiate their motherhood while incarcerated AND throughout reentry and parole.

Because I have such strong ties to Germany, I decided to focus my research for the week there:

http://www.jva-fuer-frauen.niedersachsen.de/live/live.php?navigation_id=24017&article_id=83201&_psmand=179

This is a ‘Mother-Child-House.’ It is one of seven such institutes in just one state of Germany (of which there are 16 total). Altogether, however, these houses can hold just 85-90 women of prison and their children.

This one in Nordrhein-Westfalen, where I lived for 12 months, is the only one in this state:

http://www.jvk.nrw.de/mke/kinder/index.php

These houses are designed for mothers of children who have had healthy relationships in the past, who have already lived together, whose mothers are sentenced to at least 4 months, whose mothers are to be released (at the latest) by the time the child enters compulsory schooling. Mothers ineligible for the program are those who cannot attend to the needs of the child, those who have significantly endangered the well-being of the child and who, through social-pedagogical measurement are unable to develop a healthy mother-child relationship, and those whose children have great sickness or disabilities.

During the time at the Mother-Child house, the child will also receive medical care. Children have playsets/rooms and a garden (with sandcastles and slides) and partake in activities with their mothers. The goal is to socialize the child, as well as the mother, in preparation for reentry and re-socialization.

The following is the excerpt about the treatment and development of the mother at this facility:

“Ziele und Grundsätze

Goals and Policies

Ziel des Konzepts zur Behandlung und Förderung der inhaftierten Mutter ist es, ihren Aufenthalt in der Mutter-Kind-Einrichtung so zu planen und zu regeln, dass sich Versorgung der Kinder, Arbeit, Fortbildungsbedürfnisse und Freizeitwünsche sinnvoll ergänzen und zu einer kreativen Tagesgestaltung führen.

The goal of the concept for treatment and development of the incarcerated mother is to plan and regulate her detention in the Mother-Child-Facility so that she can meaningfully complement the well-being of the child, work, skill enhancement/continuing education requirements to her wishes/goals for when she is free again AND to conduct a creative daily structure.

Das Leben in der Mutter-Kind-Einrichtung soll sich nicht nur auf die notwendige Versorgung und Betreuung der Kinder beschränken, sondern die Mütter sollen auch, ihren Fähigkeiten, Bedürfnissen und Interessen entsprechend, angeleitet werden, ihre beruflichen, sozialen und hauswirtschaftlichen Kompetenzen zu verbessern. In der Erweiterung und Differenzierung der Verhaltensmöglichkeiten der inhaftierten Mütter liegt eine Chance, deren Selbstbild und Selbstwertgefühl zu stärken und so den Umgang mit den Kindern positiv zu beeinflussen.

Life in the Mother-Child-Facility should not be limited to only emergency care and supervision of the child, but instead the mothers should also improve their skills, corresponding to their needs and interests, guided to improve their career, social, and household abilities. In the expansion and differentiation of opportunities for retaining the imprisoned women, there is the chance to strengthen their self-perception and feels of self-worth and with that, positively influence their children.

Das Behandlungskonzept sieht deshalb vor, für die in der Mutter-Kind-Einrichtung inhaftierten Frauen

 - Arbeitsmöglichkeiten zu schaffen

 - Maßnahmen zur schulischen und beruflichen Weiterqualifikation zu vermitteln und

 - haushalts- und sozialpraktische Trainingsmöglichkeiten anzubieten.

Für jede Mutter in der Mutter-Kind-Einrichtung wird ein individueller Behandlungs- und Vollzugsplan entwickelt.

The concept for caring at the Mother-Child-Facility for detained women therefore aims to:

- develop opportunities for work

- mediate measurements of further school and career qualifications

- offer household and practical social trainging opportunities

For every mother in the Mother-Child-Facility, an individualized plan for and implementation of care is developed.”

If the relationship between the mother and child becomes unhealthy, if the mother becomes fixated on the child, if the mother uses the child emotionally and materially, if she instigates aggressive feelings in the child, if she makes the child feel guilty, if she uses manipulates the relationship of the child to his/her father and other close personal contacts.

I think this facility sounds great and it looks amazing. There aren’t very many places available, but perhaps that is my own perception due to our incredibly high incidence of incarceration here in the U.S. I have still so much to look up to really see how this facility works within the German system, but it looks like a great model. 

die Sozialhilfe

Welfare


This chapter of Socializing Care addressed the progression of welfare programs since their beginnings in 1935. Discourse regarding the definition and value of 'care' evolved from wanting to support a woman in caring for her children to displacing and masculinizing the definition of care to an economic model, where the woman uses money from waged work to support and 'care' for her children.

Another prime example of over-zealous privileged women trying to 'help' their less-fortunate female counterparts highlights the societal confusion of feminist goals, when teachers encouraged their welfare-mother students to treat their children as difficult or as a 'hindrance' (129). If you ask me, this just fuels the fire of the stereotype of the self-pitying welfare mom (or feminist...). Teachers are training the women to fight their battles alone. This is not an empowering mentality; it is isolating and pressuring, demanding of self-reliance when there is much more than the self involved.

That being said, the teachers were also pressured by the welfare policy itself. They had time limitations to whip these women into shape. They could only do their best to stuff their students with knowledge and skill. Time is money, and money is care, apparently.

What seems glaringly missing, until the end, thanks to Tronto and her critical analysis of and new visions for socializing care, is the gendered argument. (and even moreso missing, a racial critique). Socializing care is defined by these policies as providing financial support---the typical masculine role. Mothers are simply not going to thrive in their 'caring' through a program seemingly built for men.

Welfare has always been a trigger-word for me. Although I admittedly know very little about it, I have deep emotions connected to the issue. I remember being shocked when my parents recounted how they were on welfare when my sister was young. I mean, sure, we didn't have much and my clothes were never new, but I didn't think we were poor! (because we weren't...anymore...I was just a wee baby back then).

In high school, as my classmates became more and more proud and bloated with their AP-status, I first began to notice privilege at work in people my age. In our first government class, my classmates would describe welfare recipients as fat, lazy, alcoholic, abusive women who just have kids to get money. MY BLOOD WOULD BOIL. FIRST OF ALL, how does that argument even make sense????? Do people really think it is such a breeze to have a child? A free ride?
and second of all, YOU DO NOT KNOW MY MOM, my family, ME! My parents worked their asses off and were responsible teen parents. I am so proud of them. They benefitted from having large families and managed to escape the hellish cycle of poverty. But at that age, for the first time, I felt like the minority. I felt like they were calling me dirty and poor and worst of all, lazy.

It is my own personal story that helps me believe there is a place for the state in helping the family, that there is the possibility for it to work. However, we need to reassess what caring for a family means and what role each family member plays in supporting the home. I wonder how much President Obama's healthcare reform will help/harm welfare efforts? What is the updated situation since Little's essay? Looks like I have some research to do...

Generationskonflikt

Generation Gap

First of all, great article. Is it SUCH a surprise that there are generational conflicts within feminism? (Well, no, and I guess the article agreed.) Feminism and its preceding and subsequent theories and movements have done such a great job identifying  diversity and criticizing all kinds of dichotomies and the structures that support them........They've done such a great job that they expect their institution to be perfect! They have internalized this feminist-phobia, if you ask me! It's only ok to be a feminist (or to call yourself one), if you fit the ideal you've envisioned. Feminisms have turned against each other, gladly supported by an ever male-dominated society and commercialism. There are many lines (generational, here) which are no longer being hailed as Anzaldua's glorious borderlands. Instead, they are creases in the sheet of paper that is feminism, the entire movement possibly folding in on itself.

The mother-daughter conflict is particularly interesting for me. I have a very mixed opinion of my mother. On one hand, I have always been proud of her for being a successful, brave teen mother. On the other hand, I'm sickened by her dependence on men and standard of beauty. I do not accept her emotional irresponsibility, but I am in love with emotional, and even recklessly so, women. The things I despise about my own mother are the traits I find easiest to accept in other women.

I am guilty of matricide in my own family. And in a quest for relating to my older feminist cohorts and reducing the inferiority I feel, I deny their motherly position. Instead, these women are older sisters or mentors. My step-mom, a very successful business woman, recently insulted my political convictions by slandering my feminism by reminding me that Sarah Palin calls herself a feminist. I see my step-mom wear her suits to work, coming home everyday frustrated that somehow her two male bosses aren't making her a partner yet... I understand that she thinks I am too idealistic and naive. An only sister to seven brothers, her entire life has been contextualized by gender. I understand her much more than she thinks. I try not to take her remarks personally. Instead, I hope to work forward so that the next generation of women won't have to feel such bitterness about these never ending gender injustices, such as her under-valued workplace status. I am not interested in pleasing my mother figure or fighting the battles she couldn't win. I, and the new generation of feminists, I think, will have to decide what is relevant now and how our goals can be reached. Undoubtedly, we will also leave the next generation of women with feelings of both approval and disappointment.

I get completely frustrated with 3rd-wave feminism, and yet--some of Baumgardner's work was the most inspiring when I first became interested in feminist politics. It does have its place. Friedan's complaints seem to be a privileged white woman joke, but she spoke to a whole generation of women with a legitimate argument. Contextually, all these feminisms have had and will continue to have their place.

In my opinion, feminism will continue to split into several specialized groups. The whole field of study is increasingly focused on intersectionality. The new goal is to make feminism usable. The new generation's activism is infusing feminism into everything--we are flash-mobbing across all the new frontiers. Feminist bloggers are infiltrating the internet frontier, accessible to almost anyone! Lady Gaga and her sort continue to raise questions to the public--not just about personal stuff, but about commercialism and success and art. Our generation is out of the private sphere. We are in the streets, but we no longer only need large demonstrations to be noticed. We are sneaking into every corner, infecting every social circle with feminist thought. It is important to remain organized at a basic level, such as organizations like NOW, but feminists should stop looking for the next posterchild or bumper-sticker injustice to fight against. Feminism is too good of a thing to be limited. Feminist theory and history is very important. Everyone should be educated about history. We can only help the next generation of women if we recognize what has been done for us by the last generations. Appreciation for the complexity and power of feminism can bridge the gaps between generations of feminists and allow for new means of exercising it. Ego needs to go out the door! At this point, we're all responsible.

Diversity Dialog

I am excited to hear what the women at ICIW brought up in their dialog. How will it compare to ours? And what did they have to say about college students????? Really interested to hear those responses.

I thought our diversity dialog was a success. I felt really comfortable with you ladies (I always do) and was also very pleased to know that being 'pc' was NOT part of this discussion. It can sometimes be difficult to grasp and properly use all the GWSS lingo.

I am glad we spent a lot of time talking about our 'invisible' identities. It seems that we were all able to identify with each other's situations to an extent....but what is interesting to me is how we prioritize our experiences or identities. Especially if we are in minority situations, we might be more prone to analyze a situation through that identity lens (or a certain combination of identities), whereas another person might have different gut responses based on their personal experiences.

Happy to see I am not the only person who struggles so often with over-compensation. I am very certain that over-compensation is going to rule me when we're in the prison, at *least* for the first few visits. I appreciated L's confirmation that this is part of breaking the cycle of socialization.

Ready to get back to IWIS with you fine women. How's the other volunteer stuff coming along? I sang with the men's choir last Tuesday for the first time. Lots of differences and similarities. I was mostly surprised by the way the prison physically hides itself even though it's SO close to free life...

Wie sieht mein Leben in 10 Jahren aus?

Where do I see myself in 10 years?


In 10 years, I will be 31. If all goes as planned, I will be living in Germany, continuing work on developing my voice and stage presence with voice teachers and coaches. If I am lucky, I will be hired by an opera house. Most likely, I will *just* be entering the professional world. The voice will just need a few more years before it is fully developed. Hopefully I will have found an agent who really knows their stuff. And hopefully the opera world will still be alive. Hopefully opera houses, its patrons, directors, and conductors will have recognized that putting pretty, young singers is NOT bringing a newer, larger, younger audience. Perhaps we will see the pendulum swing and a new golden era of singers take stage. Maybe then the honor of classical singing can be restored and its ability to revitalize a public reinstated.


It is hard to imagine my life across a distance of many years and many miles and a big ol' ocean. My life will undoubtedly be one that is international. In the meantime, I might be studying all around Europe: Italy, Austria, France? I will need to build my language skills in German, Italian, and French in order to be a serious musician and a smart business woman. Being able to sing and speak in these foreign languages is essential for interpretation of text and music; ability to perform convincingly to a foreign audience; networking with teachers, coaches, directors, and colleagues; and adapting to a multicultural world.


I will be spending several hours in the practice room, strengthening my technique and acquiring new repertoire. I need to go to the theatre, listen to recordings, watch performances, and read books. What is missing from this picture?


Art is a profession that requires a lot of time alone, a lot of self-evaluation and reflection. I believe that many musicians get caught up in the race to perfect their instrument and lose sight of the ultimate goal. Without communication to the audience, what purpose does this art have? Singing for yourself is no fault, it can be a therapeutic and beautiful thing, BUT this is not the point of opera or of art song. I think that many of my colleagues have lost other people. A genuine caring and understanding of other people and the society they live in is essential to any singer who wants to use classical music as a way to speak to an audience, to keep the music relevant, and who wants to portray their character in depth.


I find my background in GWSS to be absolutely invaluable in my quest to become a professional singer. Female characters in opera are completely reflective of women's status of their times. Understanding the history of oppression and liberation of women gives me unique insight in characterizing the music of my role. Through GWSS, I have gained a means of relating to these women. Additionally, I feel empowered in chasing my career. In reading autobiographies of famous female opera singers, I found that many of these women were surprised by the need to really own their voices and bodies. They had to take ownership of themselves, lest risk their talent and money and authorship be used and mishandled by others. 


Additionally, through GWSS studies, I realize my own agency. I have developed a way of making my own choices and feeling empowered in those choices. I can make the choice to have a career or not, to marry or not, to have children or not. I know that there is a place in this society for the kind of life I want to lead. I will not stand for intolerance and will demand much more than just tolerance. While I pursue my own quests in life, I know that I can and will reserve energy to help defend the rights of others, to care for others, and to fight injustices. Through GWSS, I have learned that this is not an expenditure of energy, but instead one that gives right back, that gives forward. 


I am excited to explore the world and to create my own history. I am prepared for the battle of pursuing a career in music and balancing the home life I want with this demanding career. There is much that lies ahead...

die Gerechtigkeit

 Justice

How does your experience with theories you have encountered in
Women’s Studies inform your ideas about justice? What is justice? What is just?

Similarly to markiewicz1916, the courses I have taken in Women's Studies usually focused on social and reproductive rights. This is my first encounter with theories of Restorative Justice (RJ). It is exciting to throw myself into a new argument, to use feminist tools to find my own answer to what is 'just.' In the same way that liberal, social, and radical feminisms (do I count you, post-feminism....nah, I don't think so) mark valid approaches towards feminist goals, a feminist approach to RJ is going to be open and diverse.

I am prone towards a more radical, Marxist approach regarding RJ. In such a case, I hold capitalism and a patriarchal beginning/evolution of the prison industry responsible for its inability to provide comfort to the victim and rehabilitation for the incarcerated, as well as the disproportionality of representation of racial, classed (and gendered, if we consider the feminization of poverty) groups in prisons. It seems, however, that there is no way to really attack the prison industries. It is well secured financially, with a trend towards privatization. The only way to change the system is going to be tearing it down. I believe it was Angela Davis who talked about having to go and tear down the walls--that our contact is going to be key towards successfully bringing our brothers and sisters back into society. So, perhaps a focus on individual cases isn't entirely such a bad idea.

It is hard for me to fathom how alternative RJ approaches could be built to really successfully deal with the needs of victims and criminals and societal demands or moral imperatives. It is interesting to read how feminist approaches are having a hard time being understood and integrated into this process. I believe that justice is finding a new way to live peacefully, and peacefully for all parties. A victim has been wronged and deserves the option for punitive punishment of their oppressor, as society well supports. However, I do believe there are times when this step could be unnecessary, and I certainly believe that it is a step that does not tremendous amounts of time. We must take the time to teach victims forgiveness and empowerment. If a victim relies only on the courts for healing, criminal activity will not stop. Hating crime will not make it stop. These are living, breathing humans.............and now I am miles away from my original attack on the prison industry structure, doch nicht (actually, no I'm not), I think we need to tear down those walls to reach out (maybe RJ even after incarceration?) to our fellow citizens.

There are alternative ways to justice. I am excited to begin talking with the women at ICIW and to start singing with the OCPC. I am certain they will shed light onto this issue.

Was, Warum, Wie, Für wen?

What are prisons for?

Why are we going to ICIW?

How can this impact us and the women we encounter?

What do we expect? Hope will happen? Fear? What questions do we have?

I believe that prisons, according to original concept, were meant to temporarily remove citizens from a society they no longer fit into, rehabilitating them and training them to peacefully fit back into society. It seems that the literature about the steps leading to, or rather the consequences resulting from, misuse of prison structure is abundant. More often than not, it seems to be a sad story. Smaller prisons with specialty services seem to have better luck at getting the right people in the right positions---at least giving the possibility of securing some money for programming for prisoners or even structural reform of the prison itself...but in the end, prospects of reducing overpopulation of prisons and the disproportionality of black, poor, and mentally ill (as well as many other) persons seem slim. It was interesting to read on one website that R. posted that with Obama's presidency, advocates of prison reform found a bit of hope that he could begin to at least shine light on the prison problem. It seems to me that, once again, those in prison are still deemed unworthy of our attention. To be honest, they haven't received much of mine either.

I cannot say for certain what my goals are (or even my reasons) for going to ICIW. Maybe after the visit to the prison today I will have a better idea. At this point, I can't even begin to fathom what being imprisoned is like. I haven't seen or felt or smelled or touched the walls; I have no context. I am afraid that I will never be able to understand at a level where the women can actually take me as a legitimate person. I want these women to respect me....meaning, I want to have value for them. I want to be there for them, but if I were imprisoned, I am unsure whether I could ever trust. I am afraid that they will find me patronizing. Then again, I guess our purpose in volunteering has a specific goal. We are doing a class with these women, right? We're going to be having conversations and we'll all be sharing information. I will be so relieved when we're all on the same page. I think that as long as I can keep sight of the infinite variety of my identity and perspective, one that is much more than just being a 'free' person in society, I can drop some of the insecurities I have and just be a person who is making myself available to another.