Interviews were conducted with 18 women; 16 were inmates at the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario; and two were incarcerated in provincial detention facilities in Quebec. The women spoke of being denied access to programs or privileges because of their sentence. Eligibility for certain institutional programs and privileges is often determined by an inmate's security classification. According to current policy, the security classification of inmates serving life sentences can only be reduced after a certain number of years have been served. Half of the women interviewed reported they had used psychotropic medication over a period of months, or sometimes years, either prior to their conviction or later. Some women commented that pressures to conform to institutional expectations led them to resort to psychotropic medication to maintain their self-control. The women also spoke about being pressured to take programs, whether or not they felt they needed the programs or the programs were suitable for them. The author concludes that the women interviewed are capable of understanding their own needs and should be allowed more decisionmaking power in determining what programs and services they require and are best suited to them. 13 footnotes