A World Apart: Women, Prison, and Life Behind Bars

By Cristina Rathbone

Book Overview

"Life in a women's prison is full of surprises," writes Cristina Rathbone in her landmark account of life at MCI-Framingham. And so it is. After two intense court battles with prison officials, Rathbone gained unprecedented access to the otherwise invisible women of the oldest running women's prison in America.

The picture that emerges is both astounding and enraging. Women reveal the agonies of separation from family, and the prevalence of depression, and of sexual predation, and institutional malaise behind bars. But they also share their more personal hopes and concerns. There is horror in prison for sure, but Rathbone insists there is also humor and romance and downright bloody-mindedness. Getting beyond the political to the personal, A World Apart is both a triumph of empathy and a searing indictment of a system that has overlooked the plight of women in prison for far too long.

At the center of the book is Denise, a mother serving five years for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. Denise's son is nine and obsessed with Beanie Babies when she first arrives in prison. He is fourteen and in prison himself by the time she is finally released. As Denise struggles to reconcile life in prison with the realities of her son's excessive freedom on the outside, we meet women like Julie, who gets through her time by distracting herself with flirtatious, often salacious relationships with male correctional officers; Louise, who keeps herself going by selling makeup and personalized food packages on the prison black market; Chris, whose mental illness leads her to kill herself in prison; and Susan, who, after thirteen years of intermittent incarceration, has come to think of MCI-Framingham as home. Fearlessly truthful and revelatory, A World Apart is a major work of investigative journalism and social justice.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812971094
• ISBN13: 9780812971095
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Random House Trade
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book

I sent this book to the prison and there are many waiting in line to read this outstanding book.

Excellent

EXCELLENT !!! , THANK YOU !!! THIS BOOK SHOULD BE READ !!! THIS BOOK SHOULD BE HEARD !!! PEOPLE MUST KNOW / FEEL , WHAT HAPPENS TO LEAD UP TO ----- & , ALSO,-- THE IN-HUMAN , TREATMENT IN PRISONS MUST END NOW !!!. BEING LOCKED-UP IS GREAT PUNISHMENT ENOUGH !!! . - ----NOW PRISONS , SHOULD BE SAFE FOR INMATES !!! . - HEALTY , GOOD FOOD,!!! & JAIL CELLS, ONE TO A PERSON & OF DECENT SIZE , WITH WINDOW /S . OR -- MUST HAVE LARGE SETTINGS, A DECENT LARGE SPACE OPEN FOR GROUPS OF PEOPLE , TOGETHER AND WINDOW/S . ALSO , LARGE , OPEN SPACES , TO WORK-OUT , GYMS & FAMILY VISTS ,WITH CONTACT , SO A PARENT CAN HOLD THEIR CHILD , KISS THEIR PARENTS , ECT .... - MOTHERS & CHILDREN , TOGETHERNESS !!! THERPY GROUPS ,- EDUCATION - CLASSES , - THE ARTS , MUSIC CLASSES , THEATRE , SPORTS , THE PRISON SYSTEM SHOULD ENGAGE IN HELPING PEOPLE TO : LEARN, GROW , CHANGE , START OVER , BEGIN FOR THEIR LIFE ON THE OUTSIDE !!! NOBODY , SHOULD BE USED , ABUSED AND HURT, EVER , IN PRISONS , BY GUARDS, COPS, THE STATE , OR THE GOVERNMENT !!! & PEOPLE WHO ARE IN PRISON , ARE ABUSED & THIS MUST END NOW !!! --- BECAUSE , OF BOOKS LIKE THIS , PEOPLE WILL KNOW !!! WE MUST UNITE & ORGANIZE , TO MAKE PRISONS , A PLACE TO GROW & CHANGE !!! WE MUST HELP OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS & CHILDREN , WHO ARE IN PRISONS , KNOW / FEEL , THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTON !!! ALSO , WE, ON THE OUT-SIDE , MUST NOT FORGET , OUR PEOPLE IN - THE PRISONS , EITHER !!! WE MUST GIVE LOVE & FORGIVENESS NOW !!! HEY , AMERICA GOVERMENT , NO MORE WAR - FOR OIL !!! LETS PUT MONEY INTO THE PRISON SYSTEM - TO EDUCATE !!! & LOVE & CARE !!! -----P.S. ALSO , THERE ARE ALOT OF INNOCENT PEOPLE IN PRISON TOO !!! WHO SHOULD NOT BE THERE !!! THEY SHOULD BE OUT, NOW !!! ----------- ALSO ,SOME PEOPLE ARE JUS, REAL POOR ,( LIKE ST.FRANCIS OF ASSISI, & ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST , NOT POOR IN SOUL OR SPIRIT , POOR, IN NO MONEY ) SO , NO GOOD LEGAL HELP & ONE GETS ABUSED & USED , BY THE SYSTEM !!! & THEY SERVE , SENTENCES , THAT IF THEY HAD MONEY , WOULD BE DISMISSED . LETS HELP THEM NOW !!! & PUT A END , TO THIS , NOW !!! --- ALSO , I DO NOT BELIEVE / FEEL , ALL CHARGES , SHOULD BE A CRIME , EITHER !!! I THINK/FEEL SOME CASES , ARE NOT A CRIME !!! , IN DOING THAT , THE GOVERMENT LIES !!! ---- SOME LAWS , MUST CHANGE !!! THEY ONLY HURT THE POOR !!! $$$ THE RICH DO IT , BUT , THEY DONT GET HASSELED , CAUGHT OR CHARGED $$$ ----- THE AMERICAN GOVERMENT ALSO DOES MANY,MANY , MANY MURDERING & EVIL CRIMES !!! ALOT OF COPS & THE COURTS, LIE !!! & ALSO , ARE VERY EVIL !!! & MURDER !!! & YES , THEY DO !!! ,"HEY ITS IN BOOKS", THE HISTORY BOOKS ,( A BOOK & EXCELLENT FILM , JUS ABOUT THIS IS : MISSISSIPPI BURNING ). ALSO , BIOGRAPHIES , A EXCELLENT & IMPORTANT BOOK , A WORLD APART , BY : CRISTINA RATHBONE . & FICTION BOOKS, HERE'S A FICTION BOOK & GREAT MOVIE , THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION ,BY : THE GREAT STEPHEN KING & THE FILM STARRING , THE GREAT ACTOR , MORGAN FREEM

Helpful book; provides insight into prison administrations

As a volunteer in a women's prison, I found this book helpful and accurate. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in this issue. The book is very readable, and I plowed through it quickly. The individual stories of women profiled were enlightening, and I particularly enjoyed the historical perspective on incarceration of women. (Thanks to the historical perspective provided by this book, I am now quite sensitive to adult female prison inmates referred to as "girls" or "gals.") Unfortunately, I think the book's scope is limited by the lack of access extended to the author by prison administrators. This doesn't work out in the prison's favor -- there are aspects of prison life left to the imagination, and if the prison researched for this book is similar to the prison I visit, the imaginings forced by the prison's handling of this author may be worse than the reality. A lack of transparency compounds the social issues that come to roost in our nation's prisons. I recommend this book. If this is a topic close to your heart, don't miss "Couldn't Keep It To Myself," Wally Lamb's collection of short stories penned by women in prison.

Excellent read

I read this book for a research project. I felt the book was very well written and delved deeply into the lives of female inmates as it pertains to life inside a correctional facility. Would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in finding out more information on the society that exists inside a female correctional facility and how they relate to the outside world.

Excellent Analysis of Women in Prison

This refreshingly honest book dramatically opened my eyes about the plight of women in prisons today. With thoughtful discussions of previous methods of handling women prisoners, the author brings us to today's problems overwhelmingly caused by mandatory sentencing for drug offenders. I finished the book wondering how I could be part of the solution for getting these women, who are likely mothers, out of the care of the state and back to taking care of their children, their lives, and their futures. This book brings the stories of the women profiled alive, and does not hold back in discussing difficult topics regarding the situation in the women's prison profiled. I highly recommend this book.