Chinese woman prisoners in the eastern province of Shandong said
they think it is helpful to have their bodily and emotional
information recorded for the benefit of their psychological and
physical health.
"Women are prone to psychological fluctuations. Female prisoners
would become desperate at some minor problems at which male
prisoners usually sniff. Now we have found an effective way to
soothe their emotions," said Li Huiju, a female police officer at
the Shandong Female Prison.
Li is deputy head of the fifth jail-block of the prison. She and
her colleagues are trying to set up complete physiological and
emotional databases for each female prisoner in the block. If they
do so, according to Li, the documented prisoners could have
individualized psychological instructions or special nutritious
food when they are in need.
The prison is located in the east of Jinan, the provincial
capital, and looks no different from shops and factories nearby.
Going in through the gate there stands another white iron door,
behind which all female prisoners of this second most populous
province of China are locked up.
"Before we launched this (experiment), there wasn't any
experience we could draw on. But we know it is a blank field in the
management of woman prisoners and it should be done," said Li
Xiufang, head of the fifth block who is in charge of what they call
an experiment.
Li graduated from a police school specializing in prison
management in Shandong. Not wearing the uniform, she spoke with
smiles always in her eyes.
According to Li Xiufang, a lot of prisoners here are illiterate.
Seventy percent of those under her administration came from rural
areas and 80 percent did not complete senior middle school. A low
educational level and women's natural sensitivity add to the
difficulty of the management, and frays and fights are common.
"We have found that many female prisoners will suffer regular
emotional uncertainty and that uncertainty is a close response to
changes of their physiological conditions," Li Xiufang said. "We
plan to have a clear understanding of each prisoner's physiological
changes and so offer diversified, individualized instructions to
prevent against possible misdoing by any prisoner," She added.
A 34-year-old prisoner, surnamed Sun, has a history of
committing suicide. She became very upset and extremely sensitive
before her menstrual period, during which she felt weak and in
pain.
Knowing her symptoms, a psychiatrist was specially arranged to
talk to her, and she was exempted from heavy work encouraged to
writing articles for distraction during her menstrual period.
Two months later, the prisoner felt a significant improvement
and her depression decreased. And as a result she had less
conflicts with other prisoners.
"I have long been thinking that I am a bad-tempered woman, and
it is not easy to get my illness cured. So I didn't expect that
they (police officers) would have found the therapy for me," Sun,
the prisoner, said.
Another prisoner, Cui, was 43 and sentenced to 13 years. She had
a regular dizzy period of a couple of days every month, which was
found to be related to her unusually long menstrual period. The
prison authority issued light work for her, and provided her more
nutritious food, helping her deal with the monthly hardship.
"Since July we have registered a remarkable fall in frays and
fights between prisoners," Li Huiju, vice head of the fifth block,
said, adding that the whole prison will soon extend their
successful measures.
(Xinhuan News Agency September 11, 2003)