Friday, November 20, 2009

In The Hood

One of my Twitter followers recently asked me to blog about what's been happening in the prison neighborhood recently. Basically what's happening is that there is a serial rapist running around central Baltimore. This past week a woman's body was found three blocks from the prison. The police suspect the killing took place during a sexual assault, and they sent police cadets out to scour the public housing complex nearby to look for evidence. (I have to admit, when I saw them my first thought was: "Oh, they'll find lots of evidence. Some of it may even be related to the killing!") Today the local newspaper said that DNA evidence has revealed that the rapes are being committed by two different suspects. One suspect is targeting women who are waiting at bus stops while the other is committing home invasions.

So why am I blogging about this? (I mean, other than because somebody asked me to.) Because periodically somebody asks me if I feel safe working in prison. Well....compared to the streets of Baltimore....need I say more?

3 comments:

Lockup Doc said...

That's a great point. While working in a prison is not without risk, many people do not realize that the controlled environment of prison enables us to work with our dangerous patients much more safely than in the community. I've had a couple of instances doing community mental health work (where there is absolutely no security) that made me much more uncomfortable than any experiences I've had in the prison environment.

Anonymous said...

This is a bit random, but I suppose a question for you guys.

How do you handle working with a patient who is attracted to you? Especially if it is a young patient.

Roia said...

You do indeed make a good point. I work in an institution, and people are so perpetually worried about what my clients (who have Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) will do if they're out in the community. Frankly, they're in much greater danger from the community than the community is in danger of being hurt by them.