Stephanie S. Covington 
Hidden Healers 
The Unexpected Ways Women in Prison Help Each Other Survive

A gripping and deeply-felt examination of incarcerated women’s lives

With unflinching clarity, Hidden Healers cuts through the myths about incarcerated women to expose the all-too-real brutalities they face within a criminal legal system never designed for them. Backed by three decades’ experience providing therapeutic programs inside prisons across the United States, trauma specialist Dr. Stephanie Covington has used her unique access to amplify the voices of the women themselves. Their stories illuminate realities most never see: that most women who get caught up in the criminal justice system have themselves been victims of harm, that the degradations of today’s prisons and jails only magnify their trauma- and that incarcerated women regularly risk punishment to tend to one another’s well-being in unexpected acts of kindness. Grounded in research and rich with personal narrative, Hidden Healers is a poignant and riveting look inside women’s prisons and jails- and what we can do to help.

Spis treści

Acknowledgements

A Note from a Hidden Healer: It’s Time for Change 1

Introduction 5

Just the Facts 16

Part One: Entering the System 29

Introduction to the Criminal Legal System for Women in the US 31

Pathways to Prison: Understanding Trauma and Addiction 49

First Days 57

Part Two: Living Inside 69

Culture and Environment 71

Working Inside the Culture of Corrections 89

Finding Your Program 91

Food 105

Mothering from Inside 117

Grief and Loss 133

Developing Relationships 141

Medical and Mental Health Care 153

Aging in Custody 167

Celebrating Special Days 173

Remembering Those Who Don’t Survive 181

Part Three: The Journey Home 185

Gate Fever 187

The Work of Reentry 195

Healing after Incarceration 205

Part Four: What We Can Do 213

Envisioning Alternatives 215

Do One Small Thing 225

Further Learning 233

O autorze

Stephanie S. Covington, Ph D, LCSW is an internationally recognized pioneer in the fields of addiction, trauma, and gender-responsive care. For three decades she has created and facilitated trauma-informed programs and curricula for use in criminal-legal settings across the United States and globally. Educated at Columbia University and the Union Institute, Dr. Covington is co-director of the Institute for Relational Development and the Center for Gender & Justice in Del Mar, California.