I have mentioned a bit about our research, and would like to tell you more.
We have been working with women in a state prison, particularly to
understand identity development among marginalized women. My own focus has
been on connection with other people -- group learning -- as a way to
identity development. We have been working with the women not only to mine
information from their pasts, but to develop a program that might intervene
in their futures. Our weekly classes are developed in such a way that they
will be a positive interaction experience for the women, a safe place where
they can explore their own lives and meanings with the help of others (other
incarcerated women, not necessarily the "experts.")
Our original intent was that this program would be developed for women so
they could develop a sense of agency and a sense of themselves as learners,
and then be able to participate in the few GED/vocational offerings
available. I am beginning to realize that this kind of experience -- of
safety, of connection -- is something that few of these women have ever had
and something that is imperative for them to have in their lives,
particularly their crummy lives in prison. These women are kept in prison
for more and more of their sentences, regardless of how they act in the
tortuous conditions, and sometimes I think the only thing that keeps them
from killing/hurting someone is the fresh air of our group experience. We
are working with the most well-behaved inmates to develop this program,
women who have been recommended by their teachers for their trustworthiness
and interest in learning and improving. And most every one of our women has
received at least a 2 year set off (not for the first time) from the parole
board during the 8 months we've been working with them. This is regardless
of the violent or nonviolent nature of their crimes, regardless of their
extended good behavior in prison, regardless of anything.
Our first conference paper is an early cut on identity development in
marginalized women; my own research/theorizing has to do with the
relationship/connection aspect of identity development. I will be
completing my dissertation by May 99 and hope to enter academia and build a
program where graduate students would co-facilitate classes (with prisoner
co-facilitators) like the one we are developing. Whether I serve on a panel
at the conference (which might squeeze a few bucks out of my dept, but
probably won't) or not, I'm going to try to make it so that I can learn
about what others are doing and thinking in the field.
Debbie Kilgore
***********************
Deborah Kilgore ph. 845-4004
Graduate Assistant - EHRD
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
http://people.tamu.edu/~kilgore
Fue tan bello vivir cuando vivias!
How lovely it was to live while you lived!
- Pablo Neruda, from "Final"