Collateral Costs of Imprisonment for Women: The Influence of Stigmatization

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Collateral Costs of Imprisonment for Women The
Influence of Stigmatization Self-Shame

• Mary Dodge Mark Pogrebin
• University of Colorado, Denver

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Women on Parole

• Deviant Label
• Low Self- esteem
• Feelings of Powerlessness
• Vulnerability
• Increased Levels of Shame

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Separation Concerns

• Abandonment by partner
• Seen as inadequate parents
• Separation from children
• Alienation from family
• Social outcasts

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I FEEL LIKE A HORRIBLE PERSON

• It was so long. I missed my kids. I missed my
  freedom.
• My children, there isnt much to say,
• I lost them when I went in.
• I will never get them back.

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ILL NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF

• You lose your husband, you lose your kids,
  your kids gonna always love you, but someone
  else takes care of your kids, another woman.
  Its tragic.
• The hardest part about being in
• prison was being away from my kids.

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Reunification Problems

• Drug/alcohol rehabilitation
• Lack of financial resources
• Housing difficulties
• Employment

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I FUCKED UP BIG TIME

• I paid the price and I screwed up, but now I am
  ready to move on.
• Its hard getting your kids back because nobody
  will believe that I have
• changed and Im a different
• person now.

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I JUST PRAY AT HOME

• I joined the PTA. Then I told someone that I
  was in prison. Now, some of them wont talk to
  me and they wont let their kids play with mine.
• I was going to church. Then someone found out I
  was in prison and everything changed, no one
  would talk to me anymore.

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ONCE A CRIMINAL ALWAYS A CRIMINAL

• Once I got out I couldnt find a job. Nobody
  will give you a break. I could be such a good
  worker, but they cant see it cause I was in
  prison.

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I KNOW THAT I WAS LUCKY

• My family offered me the support I needed. I
  never would have got through it without them.
• I am just an embarrassment to them. They wont
  have anything to do with me.

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Shaming - John Braithwaite

• Reintegrative Shaming
• Versus
• Disintegrative
• Shaming

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Guilt, Shame Stigmatization

• Shame as an internalized emotion
• Guilt related to a specific behavior
• Self-deprecation
• Harsh moral judgments
• Additional costs of imprisonment