Beside the point but Bolivia is a wonderful country, if you ever get a chance to go do so. I rank it in my top 3 countries that I've been to out of over 30.
For those who won't read the article, I thought this excerpt would be illuminating:
"Kids inside the Women's Correctional Facility are punished for normal behavior like waking up in the middle of the night - because they end up waking up everyone else inside the cramped sleeping quarters. School age kids leave the prison each day to attend regular schools but nonetheless suffer isolation from their peers. Another problem: the lack of 24-hour medical care inside the prison. Worse, kids must sometimes share mom's punishment for bad behavior, like solitary confinement."
My point: these kids are up against more than just "the occasional prison riot." I would also add, to the above paragraph, a question about the long-term psychological consequences of growing up in confinement. Perhaps a kid staying with his or her parent for a brief sentence is one thing, but what about the children whose parents' are in for longer terms? And, as others have asked upthread, does the nature of the crime committed affect our perception of whether this is good for the child?
Is anyone else wondering what a woman with 7 kids did to get thrown in jail in Bolivia? Can I guess stealing? Tax evasion? What could it be? How could she have time to be criminal?
@PerinealFavorite: Yes, I was wondering that too. The article says she refuses to discuss it, which makes it more intriguing (or maybe she's just following legal advice).
@PerinealFavorite: Who knows? But perhaps, if the gist of the article is correct, she did something she knew would lead to incarceration, which is an even scarier, sadder thought.
@IShouldChangeMyScreenname: I'm also South American and from another Catholic country... I get the awful feeling that it might have something to do with an abortion. This is just my stupid interpretation, of course.
@hello.kitty: I have those same questions. I think that's an important detail this article left out, just a general percentage of the types of crimes these women committed.
@hello.kitty: I also wondered all those things. It's very weird that the article left out this info, like it's just natural that the women are in prison?
Bolivian families are very close together. We have a great nimber of Bolivian immigrants living here, in Argentina, and their approach to family space and sharing is quite different to the Argentine idea. Perhaps this is another fact, I don't know.
@Ailatan: I would say that is more a function of being an immigrant than being Bolivian. There are several explanations for why immigrant groups would live together in large groupings that have less to do with culture than economic circumstance. Or, I would say it has to do with culture to the extent that there is a built-in support network involved with living with extended family and kin. I don't think it's unique to being Bolivian.
Or maybe I'm just sensitive to this, knowing what I do about the prejudices immigrants from Peru, Bolivia, and other S.A. countries face in Buenos Aires.
@Ailatan: I wish! I used to live there and go back as often as I can, for wine Freddo and Prune bags and whatnot. If my wish is granted and I can go this summer, I will let you know!
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"Kids inside the Women's Correctional Facility are punished for normal behavior like waking up in the middle of the night - because they end up waking up everyone else inside the cramped sleeping quarters. School age kids leave the prison each day to attend regular schools but nonetheless suffer isolation from their peers. Another problem: the lack of 24-hour medical care inside the prison. Worse, kids must sometimes share mom's punishment for bad behavior, like solitary confinement."
My point: these kids are up against more than just "the occasional prison riot." I would also add, to the above paragraph, a question about the long-term psychological consequences of growing up in confinement. Perhaps a kid staying with his or her parent for a brief sentence is one thing, but what about the children whose parents' are in for longer terms? And, as others have asked upthread, does the nature of the crime committed affect our perception of whether this is good for the child?
04/24/09
It seems there is group shaming or collective guilt being foited onto these children.
I wonder how decisions are made which children are incarcerated with their parents.
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This article raises so many questions for me.
Who are these women and what 'crimes' did they commit?
Who and where are their extended families?
What is the mental health status of these women?
......
I'm gonna quit now.
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Most of all I have questions about the culture(s) of these women.
So many questions. Going back to look at black silky piglets.
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Or maybe I'm just sensitive to this, knowing what I do about the prejudices immigrants from Peru, Bolivia, and other S.A. countries face in Buenos Aires.
04/24/09
Are you in BA? If so, I would love to do a BA Jezzie meet up, even if it's only the 2 of us.
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