Consisting of 8 short stories and vignettes, The Facility, and A Model Prison explore life within two harsh correctional institutes for women. Both sets of linked stories feature the common themes of helplessness and humiliation. They also reveal just how easy it is for a young woman to be admitted even when she hasn't been sentenced by the court, but perhaps has become an inmate due to an error, mistaken identity, or following the signed approval from a relative, or in some cases even a total stranger. Once admitted the women find themselves at the mercy of the warden and his staff and subjected to numerous indignities, including forced enemas and regular painful strappings, not to mention the horror of punishment night.