The Power of a Sentence; CELL New Frontiers Award/OVPR

2019

The purpose of this project is to use poetry writing to explore the relationships between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and incarceration. Research shows that an individual who's experienced ACEs, or traumatic events experienced before the age of 18, has nan exponentially increased risk of facing health problems as an adult, ranging from chronic depression to heart disease. While the incarceration of a family member is cited as an Adverse Childhood Experience in most studies, little research has been done that analyzes how trauma might affect someone's introduction into the criminal justice system. This creative ethnographic study of the poetry of women prisoners aims to provide a multitude of stories that will color our understands of the links between ACEs and adult incarceration. In addition to producing research needed in the field, this venture also doubly functions as a creative project for one of the most underserved populations of writers and artists in the united States: women prisoners.

Poet, Incarceration

Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information

Other

Not Applicable

Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances

State

N/A