Women face hard life when out of prison

BOSTON (WWLP) - Are women more productive members of society after they leave prison? A study on women incarcerated in Massachusetts examines how they navigate the world after leaving the correctional system and the results could lead to future legislation.

The Suffolk University study examines almost 50 women released from the Massachusetts prison system. The study is still in progress in its third year, and finds that most women are homeless and without a stable means to get by when they leave prison.

"Once got out of prison, did not have a job waiting for them, did not have a stable housing arrangement waiting for them, did have children," said Susan Sered of the Department of Sociology at Suffolk.

Most women were jobless, either because their criminal records made them unemployable or because they had low cognitive skills. Of the 27 women who reported regularly in the study, all of them struggled with mental health or substance abuse problems.

They may also have been victims of crime themselves, says Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian. "The women that have been incarcerated are much more likely to be the victim of a sexual assault and other issues like that," Koutoujian said.

The volatility of the women's lives makes them hard to track. The study suggests bringing them stability by assigning them a regular caseworker, have them see a regular therapist and encourage them to use medical facilities that address all their health issues.

"A lot of very good points made in the presentation today that certainly would be worth taking a look at,” said Rep. Kay Khan (D-Newton), “and if not necessarily coming up with legislation, but trying to incorporate it in some of the legislation that's already out there."

Sheriff Koutoujian remarked that not much has changed in the last 20 years in terms of the status of women after prison, and that the problem is generational. He encourages a change in the system and said that women are more likely to respond better than men to corrective programs.