ART: Aggression Replacement Training.
Black Gangster Disciples: a gang.
Bloods: a gang.
Committing Offense group: see CO group.
CO group: Committing Offense group. A group attended by staff and residents wherein one resident disclosed the details and repercussions of the crime he was convicted of. In Wolf Cottage, the resident was required to do his CO group before attaining his Level A, the first level.
CPS: Child Protective Services
Craft room: a room in each cottage designated for the teaching and practicing of crafts such as beadwork and leatherwork. The craft room was also used for facilitating small treatment groups.
Crips: a gang.
DBT: Dialectical Behavior Therapy.
DOC: Department of Corrections. The state agency that oversees the adult prison and parole systems.
Guardian ad Litem: in the juvenile justice context, a person appointed by the court to advocate for the best interests of the child.
Intermittent: a substitute for counselors or security officers on vacation or sick leave, or who filled in when a permanent position was vacant.
Level: a position in a hierarchy—the level system—that, upon attaining it by good behavior and progress in treatment, rewarded residents with specific privileges. In Wolf Cottage, there were three levels above that of Tables: A, B, and C, C being the highest.
MAYSI: Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument. Questionnaire given to all residents within thirty days of being assigned to a cottage. When completed, it provides an idea of the emotional state of the resident.
OD: Officer of the Day. The OD was responsible for specific administrative duties in the absence of other administrators, i.e., after business hours, on weekends and holidays.
Officer of the Day: see OD.
Off program: see OP.
OP: off program. A resident’s confinement to his room for having committed behavioral misdeeds.
PTSD: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
Resident: a prisoner.
Set: a subset of a gang. In this sense, a gang may be regarded as an aggregation of sets.
Sherm: a marijuana or tobacco cigarette soaked in formaldehyde, allowed to dry, then smoked. Also called “wet.”
SPL: Suicide Prevention Level. For most of my time at Ash Meadow, there were three levels of SPL: I, II, and III. A resident on SPL I required constant observation, a counselor with him at every moment. A resident on SPL II required a counselor to observe him every five minutes, and a resident on SPL III, every fifteen minutes. Later in my tenure, a fourth level, SPL IV, was added. Now SPL I’s, II’s, and III’s required the observing counselor to log on the resident under watch every five, ten, or fifteen minutes, respectively; a resident on SPL IV did not require special logging, only a heightened awareness by staff as to where the resident was at any time and what he was doing.
Tables: one of the most restrictive of cottage punishments. On Tables status, a resident was required to spend all of his free time sitting silently and alone at a table in the dining room, while residents not on Tables were permitted to watch television in the living room, talk with other residents, or go outside. Residents new to Wolf Cottage were required to spend their first week on Tables.
Zone: Each cottage at Ash Meadow had four “zones,” or corridors, radiating out from the living room, dining room, and kitchen, which were located centrally. Zones were numbered 1 through 4. From the front door, facing into the cottage, Zone 1 was to the immediate left. Then, counting clockwise, there were zones 2, 3, and 4. As the cottages were rectangular in shape, Zones 1 and 2 were located to the left of the common areas, Zones 3 and 4 to the right. Each zone had four bedrooms, each room having a unique number in the cottage. Zone 1 was composed of Rooms 1 through 4; Zone 2, Rooms 5 through 8, and so on. Each zone had one bathroom, or “head,” shared by the residents of that zone.