Visions as a Damage-Centered Program

When finishing part two of Offending Women, where they talk about Vision's idea of therapy and addiction as solutions and causes for the women's incarceration, I was particularly struck by how good intentions can go bad. It seems like the women involved in the program had good intentions, but had much difficulty executing them in productive ways for the incarcerated women. I was horrified at the lack of privacy the women in Visions were given, not only in respect to the program but with the expectation that they should air out their problems and lives for everybody to see. This was especially evident when incoming women were asked to write "autos" in which they fully detailed traumatic experiences and just bad situations. Not only were they asked to revisit them but they were also asked to "perform" them. That just didn't sit well with me. I was horrified. As someone who deals better with trauma and difficult experiences alone, focusing on self-reflection, I can't imagine being asked to completely break down in front of an audience when I'm not ready. I don't understand how helping these women "unmask" themselves or open up about their struggles serves as anything else than feeling shame, guilt, anger, pain. I wonder where the opportunity for positive experiences went. This program seemed very much "damage-centered."