ABSTRACT
Drawing upon interviews with correctional staff, volunteers, and advocacy workers, as well as observational data from Iowa’s Board of Corrections meetings, this chapter analyzes how prison staff interpreted and implemented “evidence-based practices” in Iowa’s only correctional institution for women. Correctional staff expressed a desire to use research to inform their practices and engaged in “triaged rehabilitation;” this practice determined which programs or services would be fully funded, reduced, or eliminated based on empirical evidence focused on recidivism reduction and return on investment rather than on the value of rehabilitative programs and/or services. Most correctional workers and service providers, on the other hand, promoted rehabilitative ideologies. “Evidence” dictated which female offenders qualified for state-funded services, shaped staffing decisions, and determined prisoner reorganization programs. Correctional staff proactively enlisted community support for programming offered inside state facilities, which means that most female prisoners are dependent upon community goodwill to provide services while incarcerated.
