A Halfway House for Women

Download or read book A Halfway House for Women written by Gail A. Caputo and published by Northeastern University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-01 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although halfway houses have been touted for years as affirmative rehabilitation locations that ready women for life in the outside world, in this remarkable case study Gail Caputo shows how these places reinforce patterns of control and abuse that reaffirm the dependency and victimization of the inmates. Based on observations made while living and working alongside women at a halfway house within the prison system in a city in the Northeast, Caputo's analysis is anchored in the words and experiences of over a dozen women. Organized according to the progression of "levels" residents traverse during their time in the house, and the rules and behaviors associated with each level, Caputo offers a riveting look at what passes for "rehabilitation" and "reintegration" in such places, and delineates the many ways these women retain agency by resisting regulations designed to keep them in their place.