Throughout this research, I use terms such as prison-induced trauma, baseline-level change, and system-conscious change. Below are the definitions of these terms.
Prison-Induced Trauma:
I use this term to identify the uniquely oppressive experiences of pregnancy, postpartum, and mothering within the U.S. prison industrial complex. I engage with the work of scholars who have theorized about the role a prison complex plays on the mental health of the incarcerated, but particularly apply this thinking to pregnancy, postpartum, and mothering experiences.
Baseline-Level Change:
Engaging with Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie’s theorizing of reformist reforms vs. abolitionist steps to end imprisonment in Abolition. Feminism. Now., I have arrived at this term. I use this term to articulate change that is necessary on the most basic of terms; changes that uphold the human rights of pregnant, postpartum, and parenting incarcerated populations but are not systemic.
System-Conscious Change:
Also, inspired by the work of Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie in Abolition, Feminism. Now., I use this term to describe changes that account for the role the prison industrial complex plays in the experiences of pregnancy, postpartum, and mothering. These changes hold the prison system accountable for the trauma it induces and move us toward what Davis, Dent, Meiners, and Richie understand as abolitionism.