Reply #21: I worked with the Incarcerated Mothers Project in NYC [View All]

Riker's Island, Rose M. Singer Building.

You're certainly right about the mother-child relationship among incarcerated women. The project was designed to get kids back with their family members rather than floating in foster care. Everybody pretty much wanted in. That said, it also looked a bit less idyllic than all that. One thing I noticed was that many of the women we interviewed had shredded earlobes from where earrings had been ripped out. Whether this happened in the jail is anyone's guess. They certainly seemed to wear some jewelry.

By the way, the Singer Unit was almost entirely a dorm set up, locked room with 50 beds, a sitting area, and a TV room. Green industrial paint, signs everywhere saying that possession of fashioned weapons would result in additional charges. The work I did there was fulfilling, but you never left Singer undepressed.