Seminar Plan: Women’s Needs After Release from Prison to a Rural Community
Introduction
In this seminar, we will discuss the unique needs faced by women upon release from prison to a rural community. This seminar plan is based on the article “Women’s Needs After Release From Prison to a Rural Community” by Lund, R., Hyde, R., Kempson, D., & Clarke, P. (2002). The article provides valuable insights into the challenges and facilitators of reintegration into a rural community for women offenders.
Objectives- Short
1. To provide an overview of the article and its key findings.
2. To examine the specific challenges faced by women upon release to a rural community.
3. To explore strategies that can be implemented to support women’s reintegration into rural communities.
4. To discuss the importance of gender-responsive programming and policy in women’s correctional settings.
5. Aligned all response papers provided to the seminar outline.
Seminar Outline
1. Introduction
– Brief overview of the article and its relevance
– Definition of key concepts related to women’s needs after release from prison
2. 2. Challenges Faced by Women upon Release
– Barriers to employment, housing, and social support in a rural community
– Impact of past criminal records and stigmatization
– Limited access to resources and services
3. Strategies for Reintegration
– Employment support and vocational training
– Housing assistance and transitional housing programs
– Mental health and substance abuse services
– Mentoring and support groups
4. Gender-responsive Programming and Policy
– Importance of gender-specific programming and policies
– Examples of successful interventions in women’s correctional settings
– The role of partnerships and collaborative initiatives
The article is very brief and straight to the point. It is also the first article seen in this class to include the full actual survey used for research. That is a unique and captivating display. The main observations brought forth in this essay are that rural women need legal/medical/financial counseling, tools to remain sober, insurances, and pathways to obtain education or employment. The most interesting point made in this text is that urban women have more post-release housing needs than rural women (a surprise and a fact that should be unpacked). The most bizarre thing found in the text is that felons are denied state and federal funded insurance…what? How is that going to keep women healthy and out of prison? Another interesting thing mentioned in this article is that most women inmates identified as being very healthy-and yet most also identified having (mental) illnesses. That should have been looked into further by the authors of this article as it is an outstandingly curious juxtaposition; especially considering the fact that these women are denied publicly funded insurance. Another point made this article that deserves more attention is that felons are denied food stamps and other related benefits…but also the surveyed women mostly have children that are minors. How are these women supposed to take care of themselves and their children post-release if they are denied medical insurance and SNAP? It sounds like our system is designed for people’s failure and imprisonment, and that there is no way out.
Ok here are some questions: Why do we think these surveyed women claim to be ill and healthy at the same time? Why are felons denied such vital resources like insurance and EBT and what message is the government giving to people with policies like this? If our rhetoric is for people to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”, what about those with no boots? Imprisonment?
Works Cited Lund, Ryan, et al. “Women’s needs after release from prison to a rural community.” Journal of Correctional Health Care, vol. 9, no. 3, 1 Oct. 2002, pp. 271–288, https://doi.org/10.1177/107834580200900305.
