The writing on the wall

When you begin reading Silja Talvi's book, Women Behind Bars, it appears that it is going to be a simple read. It is written in a journalistic style that reports in detail the life circumstances of imprisoned women in the U.S. Through compelling storytelling, Talvi supports her claims with reference to court documents and other credible material, as well as women's voices through her visits to several U.S. federal and state prisons.

This is arguably the greatest strength of Women Behind Bars; Talvi provides a medium for the most silenced voices in America to be heard. She conveys how such silencing can, and has had, dire and even fatal consequences for imprisoned women. The reader is left with the sense that by learning about women's lived experiences, the struggles and injustices they have endured are in some way being acted upon. Listening is the first stage of understanding, as it is through understanding that we are led to action. In her forthright style, Talvi, an award-winning journalist, effectively appeals to our logic, humanity and interest to learn.

Talvi sets out to chronicle the state of crises of the federal and state systems of incarceration in the U.S. To do this, she broaches areas that others have paid limited attention to in their attempts to understand women's lives in prison and what led them there. Writing candidly, Talvi suggests that if we do not know about the realities of women's imprisonment, then attempts at change will be thwarted. The issues that Talvi tackles are extensive, and include sexual harassment and abuse from prison staff, over-prescribing of psychiatric medications to prisoners, non-dispensing of medication for chronic and acute pain, medical neglect and carelessness, pain and suffering of the elderly and terminally ill, inhumane segregation conditions, epidemic overcrowding, xenophobia and homophobia, increasing provision of faith-based services and basic human rights such as food quality.

The book also promises to show the reader the changes that are needed in the administration of (in)justice in America. This is where the book only partly delivers. For example, Talvi documents the rampant spread of hepatitis C and HIV, and notes that in 1989 San Francisco's Sheriff's Department was the first jail to distribute condoms, dental dams and safe sex information to all prisoners. Today, there are only five other institutional services that distribute free condoms in the U.S. It would be helpful to understand why this initially occurred in San Francisco, how it continues to take place and its documented effectiveness. The pathways that lead women to imprisonment are complex and so too are effective responses. The inclusion of concrete suggestions to initiate change would have been a useful addition to the book.

The book does, however, provide the reader with key messages that speak to the need for immediate change. The most prominent is the impact of patriarchy, violence, poverty, racism and misogyny on women in the 'free world' and its translation into imprisonment. Through all of Talvi's investigative work in the U.S. and abroad, most alarming to her was the disproportionate incarceration of marginalized women due to the intersection of their race and class (e.g., African American women in the U.S., Aboriginal women in Canada, Roma women in Finland). Second, serious concern over the growing business of punishment, in particular through the privatization of the American prison system, was threaded throughout Talvi's book. Budgetary cutbacks to support bottom-line profit directly translate into, for example, poor food quality, health care, staffing and medical supplies. It should be noted that increasing fiscal cutbacks are also affecting state run systems, with the most obvious being California's burgeoning incarceration system.

Third, Talvi frequently reminds the reader of the pivotal role of the prison worker in the administration of justice within prison walls. Talvi acknowledges the power such individuals hold in terms of how prisoners are physically treated, the services they are allotted, and their general mental well-being. Irreverent of whether policies exist, the role of the enforcer is critical. This is reminiscent of the 1994 cell extractions at the Prison for Women in Kingston, Canada, and the conclusions of Justice Louise Arbour's Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston.

The fourth key area in need of immediate change evident in Talvi's work is America's abysmal failure with its 'war on drugs.' The infringement of women's human and civil liberties are evident from such situations as murder convictions for using cocaine while pregnant, to long and harsh sentences for non-violent and addicted women involved in drug related offences. The war on drugs is an underlying reason for the dramatic rise in the rate of female incarceration in the U.S.

Although Talvi does not provide the reader with a succinct detailing of how to initiate change, she does counter her evidence of injustice with examples of prison systems that seem to be better situated. She draws on the international literature (Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom) and select U.S. illustrations. For example, she highlights the turnaround of Holloway prison in England from its infamous beginnings to its current offering of women-centred programming. She also relays that in some U.S. systems occupational training is provided to women in economically viable areas. It remains however, that these glimmers of positive directions are seriously overshadowed with the dark reality of the book.

We know that the incredulous situation of women's incarceration is on the rise in America. Talvi shares with the reader that what she has seen in prisons across America haunts her to this day. As the reader, you are naturally left asking "where is the hope for tomorrow?" Talvi's concluding chapter, titled "Hope and Healing," does not provide it. But again, if Talvi's intent is to enact the change process via listening and learning, then the book admirably accomplishes this. Women Behind Bars would be a great resource for the general public and university students alike for invoking understanding about the realities of imprisoned women's lives.

There are also specific questions the reader is left with. For example, are the selected prisons representative of the U.S.? The somewhat glowing Canadian example of a B.C. jail as an international comparison certainly is not. But then, do these sorts of questions really matter? Maybe as Canadians we should concern ourselves most with the fact that, as Talvi points out, '[o]f all English-speaking countries, Canada's approach toward incarceration is, arguably, heading faster toward American-style lockups than any other country's." We are currently witnessing the disparaging ramifications of Canada's own federal and some provincial law and order agendas on the lives of women and their families. But Canada and the U.S. are not alone. There is an alarming increase in the rate of incarceration of women across the globe, with those incarcerated being the most vulnerable in our society, including young, ethic minority women with low incomes, limited education, alcohol and drug abuse histories, abusive backgrounds, and affliction with mental illness.

With facts like this in mind, Women Behind Bars appears at first glance to be a simple read and turns out to be anything but. This is due in large part to Talvi's gift in bringing to life the needless human suffering that goes on at the hands of the state through its criminal justice system and extended through some individuals who work within it. Although Talvi does not provide direction for change to the extent I think most would hope for, she does direct attention to the reality of the state of women's imprisonment in the U.S. And this is an accomplishment she should be applauded for, and I am confident that the women she has spoken with are thankful for.—Colleen Anne Dell