First Women’s A.A. Prison Groups Begin to Meet
The first reported women’s prison group meets on March 18, 1944, at Clinton Farms in Clinton, New Jersey.
Education at Clinton Farms also addressed problematic conditions such as substance abuse. Drinking underlay many inmates’ crimes. Alcoholism had come the course of the twentieth century to be viewed as illness rather than moral evil. Alcoholics Anonymous, personal identity development, and conflict resolution were believed to remediate such problems. In 1944 Clinton Farms established its first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, asserting that a drinking habit could be overcome with proper intervention, so preparing prisoners for a successful return to society.
Women’s Prison at Clinton Farms in Clinton, New Jersey