Jessie, On the Patio

The author’s journey through the criminal justice system highlights the traumatic experiences of offenders as they navigate the confusing and frightening world of punishment. Few people have any real concept of what it means to “do time.” Harsh treatment is the intended result of get-tough, no-frills penal values. The offensive level of cruelty and human rights abuses in prisons remain largely below the public radar.

This country’s prison experiment has had ravaging effects—not just on offenders and their families but also on entire groups of people and whole communities. This book explores the criminalization of poverty and mental illness through firsthand accounts of women in various stages of the criminal justice system. Critical social problems such as sexual abuse, substance abuse, mental illness, family fragmentation, economic instability, and social isolation have particularly impacted women. Unfortunately, society seems to pay little attention to the plight of marginalized women until they break the law. Legislators, the public, and justice officials are then shocked when recidivism rates are high, and the women don’t seem to have “learned their lessons.”

This book chronicles the author’s emotional and often painful transformation from a once punitive-minded proponent of the system to a prison reform advocate who implores society to demonstrate compassion for offenders and to consider their potential for redemption. Current practices in most states fail to reflect the evidence about what works. Rather, false representations of crime and criminals, fear mongering, and political posturing continue to be hallmarks of punitive practices. If our ultimate goal is a reduction in crime, the author argues that we must assess realistically what is needed for our offenders to succeed—this will translate into reduced crime, reduced victimization, and less human suffering.