doi:10.7916/ceq3-v022Oral history interview with Iris Donita Bowen, 2018Bowen, Irisoral historiesmixed materialMass incarceration--United StatesFamilies, Black--Effect of imprisonment onRecidivism--Black people--United StatesIntimate partner violence--United StatesSexual abuse victims--United StatesPrison visits--United StatesPrison violence--United StatesPrison discipline--United StatesRape in correctional institutions--United StatesSocial workersBowen, IrisBedford Hills Correctional Facility (N.Y.)Bayview Correctional FacilityIris Donita Bowen discusses her childhood experiences growing up in East New York and the conditions and relationships leading up to her involvement with drugs and incarceration. She talks about being in an abusive relationship and the effects of domestic violence on her life. Bowen discusses differences between various facilities she was in, including access to education and therapy services at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, and violence and punishment at Albion. She discusses corrections officers impregnating inmates and feeling double-victimized by the system. She also talks about rebuilding relationships with family after her release, and the effects of incarceration on children, including her thoughts on mass incarceration and the larger criminal justice system as an attack on the Black family. She discusses time outside prison working with formerly incarcerated people attempting to rebuild their lives despite systemic obstacles, including finding work, housing, and banking. Bowen also discusses the cycles of violence she has seen and how childhood experiences with sexual abuse can lead people to violence as an adult