Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Susan Sered
‘A $360M mistake;’ Massachusetts should not rebuild women’s prison at MCI-Framingham (Viewpoint)
Views expressed here represent those of the author and not necessarily of MassLive or The Republican. Readers are invited to share their opinions by emailing to letters@repub.com. On June 30, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced a $20.5 million capital investment as the first step in a $360 million plan to renovate MCI-Framingham, the state’s prison for women.
The Contemporary Jewish Healing Movement
Jewish “healing” is more about providing communal support than about curing the sick. Jewish culture has a long, rich, and venerable corpus of healing traditions, including, for example, wearing protective amulets, consulting rabbis and holy men in order to receive their blessing and their instructions regarding the ritual actions necessary to alleviate illness and other misfortune, and pilgrimage to tombs of saints associated with healing.
Money for crime victim services in budget limbo
WHEN IT IS fully staffed, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center employs 50 people who run its hotline for sexual assault victims, provide referrals, offer counseling, support survivors in the hospital, and conduct education and prevention programs. Now, the crisis center is down to 35 people, due to general labor shortages and factors specific to victim advocacy work - low pay, burnout, and cases made more complex by the pandemic.
New tax credit for live performances surfaces again
House leaders are trying once again to launch a new tax credit to lure live theater, dance, and musical productions to Massachusetts. The so-called live performance tax credit received little attention on Monday when House Speaker Ron Mariano and his Democratic colleagues economic development legislation containing a tax relief package of more than $1 billion for Massachusetts.
New tax credit for live performances surfaces again
HOUSE LEADERS are trying once again to launch a new tax credit to lure live theater, dance, and musical productions to Massachusetts. The so-called live performance tax credit received little attention on Monday when House Speaker Ron Mariano and his Democratic colleagues economic development legislation containing a tax relief package of more than $1 billion for Massachusetts.
A new women's prison is not the answer
LAST MONTH, three days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, women in Massachusetts lost another opportunity for bodily autonomy and personal dignity when the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) released a "Strategic Plan for Women Incarcerated in Massachusetts," commissioned for $225,000 from the Ripples Group, a "boutique management consulting firm." The strategic plan is far from the paradigm shift many Massachusetts women and families were hoping for when the DOC...
A new women’s prison would be a mistake - CommonWealth Magazine
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION announcedrecently that it will suspend operations at Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Shirley and South Middlesex Correctional Center in the wake of high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Massachusetts prisons and the ongoing decline in prisoner populations in the state.
Can't Catch a Break
Chapter 1 "Joey Spit on Me" How Gender Inequality and Sexual Violence Make Women Sick We have an abundance of rape and violence against women in this country and on this Earth, though it's almost never treated as a civil rights or human rights issue, or a crisis, or even a pattern. Rebecca Solnit, "The Longest War Is the One against Women" Men-they don't want to leave me . . . they want to control me. Robin Francesca's father came to the United States to live the American dream.
Why 'Waging War' on Coronavirus Is a Dangerous Metaphor
“We’re at war with the virus.” (Pres. Candidate and Former Vice-Pres. Joe Biden) "I view it—in a sense as a wartime president." (Pres. Donald Trump) “The president said this is a war. I agree with that. This is a war.” (Gov. Andrew Cuomo) I have been feeling troubled by the use of war metaphors to describe how the United States is or should be responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Criminalization of Opioid Civil Commitment
The US opioid epidemic is characterized by a high rate of opioid overdose deaths (47 600 in 2017 alone) and a low rate (<5%) of self-perceived treatment need among individuals who misuse opioids.1,2 One strategy to address this problem is civil commitment for opioid misuse, which is currently permitted in Washington, DC, and 38 states.
The Problems With Pinktober
The Susan G. Komen Foundation has teamed up with everyone from a fracking company to KFC during breast cancer awareness month. It’s October—the leaves are turning yellow, porch ornaments are coming up pumpkin orange, the first frost is sparkling silver, and everywhere I turn the sight of pink ribbons affronts my sensibilities.
What Pennsatucky’s Teeth Tell us about Class in America
I know she is supposed to be a cross between a villain and comic relief, but Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett (Taryn Manning) is my favorite character to watch this season on Orange is the New Black. For those (few) who have not watched the series, Tiffany is a caricature of an ignorant/hillbilly/Jesus freak/meth head. In the first season, we saw her provoke and eventually fight Piper (Taylor Schilling), the attractive, articulate protagonist and author of the memoir on which the series is based.
Understanding the Sources of Pain Could Curb Opioid Addiction
Understanding the Sources of Pain Could Curb Opioid Addiction Insight into why opioid addiction is rampant in certain communities could help lower demand for these drugs Understanding why certain groups, suffering certain kinds of psychological pain, fall victim to opioid abuse could help stop the crisis at its roots.
Resources - Shadowproof
This page is and always will be a work-in-progress. If there’s something missing that you think should be included, please contact me. • NYC Board of Correction votes to approve new rules for solitary confinement. Jan 13, 2015, by @aintacrow • Nell Bernstein & others discuss the end of juvenile incarceration.
How to Curb Opioid Addiction
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis. The bill called the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 covers much of the same territory as the 138-page report released in November 2017 by a commission appointed by President Donald Trump.
How understanding pain could curb opioid addiction
This article was originally published on The Conversation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis. The bill called the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 covers much of the same territory as the 138-page report released in November 2017 by a commission appointed by President Donald Trump.
Column: How understanding pain could curb opioid addiction
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis.
Column: How understanding pain could curb opioid addiction
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis.
How understanding pain could curb opioid addiction
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis. The bill called the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 covers much of the same territory as the 138-page report released in November 2017 by a commission appointed by President Donald Trump.
How understanding pain could curb opioid addiction
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis. The bill called the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 covers much of the same territory as the 138-page report released in November 2017 by a commission appointed by President Donald Trump.
Understanding pain could help address opioid addiction
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis.
How understanding pain could curb opioid addiction
Both the Senate bill and the commission document, unlike the president's own March 2018 call for executing drug dealers, recognize addiction as a health problem and focus on treatment rather than punishment. All of this is important, but as a medical sociologist, I am particularly interested in developing better understandings of the root causes of the current crisis. Why are so many Americans willing to ingest substances that, they most likely know, can lead to grievous harm?
Drug Addiction - CommonWealth Magazine
Opinion There's no evidence that detention is effective in treating addiction By Susan Sered Addiction, drug use, involuntary commitment 0 Comments May 3, 2018 MASSACHUSETTS IS AIMING to tackle the opioid crisis head on. On Friday, the Joint House and Senate committee dealing with substance abuse is set to move forward on major legislation known as the CARE Act. Though the bill includes many good measures, it would also expand the dubious practice of involuntarily sending drug users to rehab.
How Understanding Pain Could Curb Opioid Addiction
Helping people with pain, whether it be physical or emotional, could limit the need for opioids. eldar nurkovic/Shutterstock.com The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill in April 2018 designed to address the opioid crisis. The bill called the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 covers much of the same territory as the 138-page report released in November 2017 by a commission appointed by President Donald Trump.
Maternal Health and Rights Deserve Their Own Day
This post is part of a blog carnival. Mothers, activists, healthcare professionals and researchers around the world have come together to ask the UN Secretary General to recognize April 11 as the International Day for Maternal Health and Rights. Please join by using #IntlMHDay Without rights to safety and bodily autonomy, women may be prevented from carrying and raising children whom they dearly wish to nurture.
Column: For Mississippi, the Senate bill would spell disaster
The Senate health care bill threatens the health and well-being of Mississippi residents. And it could lead to 278,000 Mississippians losing insurance by 2026, causing 335 excess deaths in the state. The bill proposes drastic cuts to Medicaid, the federally funded health plan that covers 23 percent of Mississippians — a percentage that is well above the national average.
Uninsured In Texas, Then And Now
Uninsured In Texas, Then And Now Susan Sered1 1Susan Sered (ssered{at}suffolk.edu) is a professor of sociology at Suffolk University, in Boston, Massachusetts. She is the coauthor, with Rushika Fernandopulle, of Uninsured in America: Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity (University of California Press, 2005). The names of Luis, Daniela, and their children were changed in this essay to protect their privacy. The author thanks the women of ARISE for their insights and assistance in the Valley.
The social implications of Zika
U.S. responses to the Zika crisis are fundamentally flawed. Headlines like “The War on Zika in Miami Turns to the Air” and “Genetically modified mosquitoes newest weapon in war on Zika” may be intended to signal the seriousness of the response, but the world is more complicated than that.
Sered: Questioning the ‘opioid crisis’
Assumptions in public debate missing the big picture
Sered: Questioning the ‘opioid crisis’
Assumptions in public debate missing the big picture
If we’re really in the midst of an ‘opioid epidemic’ - we’re reacting in just the wrong way
Headlines decrying the “opioid epidemic” have been in the news on a daily basis for a little while now. Politicians, public figures and journalists are practically trampling each other in their haste to jump on the “addicts [sic] are not criminals, they are sick and need treatment” bandwagon. This article was originally published by The Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow The Influence on Facebook or Twitter.
The Cavity in Health Insurance Coverage: Oral Health
The absence of comprehensive dental care exacts a toll on millions of Americans in terms of poor health, pain and the social stigma associated with bad teeth. (Photo: Paul Goyette / Flickr) When we talk about the successes and shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) -- and health care in the US in general -- little attention is given to dental care. While the ACA defines dental coverage as an essential benefit for those under 18, insurers aren't required to offer dental coverage for adults.
Health care has a cavity: There’s no good reason our teeth aren’t covered
When we talk about the successes and shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – and health care in the U.S. in general – little attention is given to dental care. While the ACA defines dental coverage as an essential benefit for those under 18, insurers aren’t required to offer dental coverage for adults. Medicare, the nation’s largest insurer, doesn’t cover routine dental work. And coverage for adults through Medicaid varies from state to state.
The cavity in health insurance coverage: oral health
When we talk about the successes and shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – and health care in the U.S. in general – little attention is given to dental care. While the ACA defines dental coverage as an essential benefit for those under 18, insurers aren’t required to offer dental coverage for adults. Medicare, the nation’s largest insurer, doesn’t cover routine dental work. And coverage for adults through Medicaid varies from state to state.
Housing voucher system unfair to homeless
From the time she left foster care at age 18 until her late 20’s, Carly was homeless, staying at shelters or couch-surfing with acquaintances in the Boston area. In August 2014 she finally got an apartment with the help of a housing voucher from an agency called Home Start. The one-bedroom apartment, located in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, rented at US$1,150 per month. The location wasn’t ideal – the area is where she’d spent time, over a decade earlier, in a gang and dealing drugs.
Poor and homeless face discrimination under America's flawed housing voucher system
From the time she left foster care at age 18 until her late 20’s, Carly was homeless, staying at shelters or couch-surfing with acquaintances in the Boston area. In August 2014 she finally got an apartment with the help of a housing voucher from an agency called Home Start. The one-bedroom apartment, located in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, rented at US$1,150 per month. The location wasn’t ideal – the area is where she’d spent time, over a decade earlier, in a gang and dealing drugs.
The Worst of Pinktober "Breast Cancer Awareness" Products
Each October, as national Breast Cancer Awareness month rolls around, I find myself fluctuating between pink-nausea and pink-rage. The pink ribbon extravaganza is supposed to support breast cancer awareness and research. But often, pink ribbons are slapped on products without follow-through to actually end breast cancer or—worse—adorn products that actually emit carcinogens.
The dark side of alternative medicine and holistic healing
Holistic healing sounds like a good thing. I certainly believe that each of us is far more than a cluster of discrete organs, bones and cells. I also believe that the thigh bone is connected to the hip bone; the mind and the body are a cohesive unit; that every illness experience is embedded in a wider social context; that environment matters; and that the manner in which a healer relates to a patient can result in widely different outcomes.
The “Bitch” at the Welfare Office - Or Why Responsibility Without Authority Makes Us Sick
A few days ago I listened while Francesca, a woman I’ve come to know during a decade of working with criminalized women, ranted about “the bitch” over at the welfare office who refused to give her food stamps. According to Francesca, “the bitch” didn’t believe that Francesca had not received the letter telling her that she needed to re-certify her eligibility. This, I thought, is a systematic problem: Access to vital services typically is tied to having a permanent address.
Why brain science won't cure poverty
Recently I’ve seen news reports with headlines like this one: “Can Brain Science Help Lift People Out Of Poverty?” This particular article described the near miraculous recovery of a woman who grew up surrounded by violence in the housing projects, became a “single mom on welfare” who wasted her money and damaged her health with a pack-a-day smoking habit, and was stuck in an abusive relationship.
What researchers who experiment on humans can teach men about consent and sex
Susan Sered is Professor of Sociology at Suffolk University and author of Can't Catch a Break: Gender, Jail, Drugs, and the Limits of Personal Responsibility. California’s new “yes means yes” law has garnered a lot of opposition. Critics argue that it will be impossible to enforce, that it constitutes government intrusion into our bedrooms and (I assume mockingly) that it will require men to tape video cameras to their genitals.
The Problems With Pinktober.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation has teamed up with everyone from a fracking company to KFC during breast cancer awareness month. It’s October—the leaves are turning yellow, porch ornaments are coming up pumpkin orange, the first frost is sparkling silver, and everywhere I turn the sight of pink ribbons affronts my sensibilities.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Susan
Contact Susan, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack