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About "On Hold In Holding":
In 1999 LadybugPress was approached by a lecturer at San Francisco State University about the possibility of our publishing a book about women's experiences in a jail setting. It was exactly the sort of project we are always interested in: Giving a voice to those who don't get heard, especially women. After a number of conferences, we put together a team and decided on an approach—team members interviewing women at the San Francisco jail based on a series of topics and questions we had developed with the team leader, and author of this project, Michelle Patterson, J.D., Ph.D.
Team Members were: The interviews were made possible thanks to the SISTER Program at the San Francisco Jail and special thanks are in order for Sandra Schwartz, Program Administrator; Ramona Massey, CJ#8 Program Coordinator; Muin Daly, Prisoner Legal Services coordinator; and Bianca Ramirez, Victim Restoration Coordinator Resolve to Stop the Violence Project. Inmates in these interviews are anonymous—Some chose a name to use for the interview; some did not. The first questions you will hear are background. After that, the questions focus on her life and hopes. Each interviewer has a slightly different style and each inmate we interviewed has a distinctive voice, though you will find disturbing similarities in their stories. The interviews were conducted inside the jail, using portable equipment, so please be patient with background noise and occasional shifts in the recording quality.
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The SISTER Program (Sisters In Sober Treatment Empowered In Recovery) is an inmate program of the San Francisco County Jail. The program is designed to embrace "all facets of a client's life" and to "reduce the impact of substance abuse and its associated social problems, through direct intervention."
"SISTER is a voluntary program providing services to incarcerated women in San Francisco County Jail No.8, in a dormitory style therapeutic community setting. SISTER clients have either been sentenced or are awaiting criminal proceedings. It is a collaborative effort of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department and Walden House, a substance abuse treatment program. Acupuncture services are provided by Acupuncture Recovery and Treatment Services (ARTS)."
Jails are a short term incarceration institution and are designed for inmates whose sentence is six months or less or who are being held prior to hearing or sentencing. Like most jails, the San Francisco jail facility is stressed, but the area where SISTERS inmates are held is one of the newer wings and is an open, two story facility designed around a hub. Though this is referred to as a "dormitory" there is no mistaking it for anything other than a jail.
Our team of interviewers was allowed to meet with SISTER inmates in a general meeting to describe the project and ask for volunteer participants. The response was enthusiastic so interviewers met with individual inmates to select those who would participate. The criteria for participation was fluid: Each interviewer made recommendations based on her own interaction with the inmate rather than on any demographic description of an ideal candidate. Interviews took place over several weeks, within the area of County Jail #8.
LadybugPress is grateful to the SISTER program and the San Francisco County Jail and Sheriff's Department for their cooperation and the access we were allowed, and to our volunteer interviewers from San Francisco State University.
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