Michal Soffer is a post-doctoral fellow at The Burton Blatt Institute. Soffer’s main research interests are the psychosocial aspects of illness, disability and health, and their relevance for social policies and social work practice. More specifically, Soffer researches the social construction processes of illness and disability as deviance, as well as in the stigmatizing process of various health conditions, diseases and disabilities, in the mass media and elsewhere. The interface between crime, the criminal justice system and disability is also of great interest to her.
Prior to joining BBI, Soffer was a Program Manager at the Committee for Aiding Disabled Persons in the Labor Market and Researcher in the Economic and Research Administration for the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor in Jerusalem.
Soffer received her B.S.W. (magna cum laude), her M.S.W. (summa cum laude), and her Ph.D. degrees from the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has received numerous scholarships and awards, has presented at conferences, and publishes in scholarly journals and publications. Soffer’s dissertation was titled “Chronic illness as an example of social deviance and social control: Media coverage of severe diseases in the Israel press.”
Synopsis: This book is based on a qualitative research study conducted in "Neve Tirza" prison, a maximum security prison and the only female penitentiary in Israel. The study consisted of 42 semi structured interviews with women inmates and 10 interviews with the prison's staff. The research examined how women inmates understand their time in prison, involvement in crime, and the effects of crime on their families and personal lives.
The book, which focuses on eight individuals and archetypical stories, provides insights into the similarities between the experiences of women prisoners and other women in society. The hardships endured by women prisoners throughout their lives are manifested in the integration of crime and family life. The title of the book represents one of the central themes that emerged from our analysis. This theme framed incarceration as a positive experience because these prisoners were provided nurturing, care, and treatment that they had never received or been offered in the outside world.
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