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Critical Criminology, 2017
At the outset of their book, In Search of Safety: Confronting Inequality in Women's Imprisonment, the authors (Barbara Owen, James Wells and Jocelyn Pollock) correctly point out that, ''When most people think about prison, they think about men'' (p. 1). This is due, in large part, to the fact that men make up the bulk of the world's prison population. Of course, too, with some exception, the popular media focuses primarily on males behind bars, which is another contributing factor. Yet, criminology must also be held partially responsible because most of the scholarly books and journal articles on incarceration produced by our colleagues conspicuously overlook the plight of women behind bars. Thus, Owen, Wells and Pollock's scholarly monograph is a much-needed major contribution to the field. Guided by the concepts of pathways, gender-inequality, intersectionality, community, capital, prison culture, human rights, and state-sponsored suffering, the authors attempt to describe women's prison experiences. Owen and her co-authors devote special attention to documenting how female inmates handle challenges to their safety by developing various forms of prison capital. The authors define capital as: any type of resource, or access to a desired resource, that can keep a woman safe while she does her time. In addition to prison forms of social capital (who you know) and human capital (what you know), other specific expressions of cultural, emotional, and economic capital provide the foundation for the search for safety as women do their time (p. 2). Theoretically and conceptually sophisticated, this book presents important data on searching for safety through prison capital and other issues derived from mixed methods, including prisoner and correctional staff focus groups, staff interviews, content analysis of
CEPS Journal, 2019
In Search of Safety takes a close look at the sources of violence and conflicts in women's prisons. As the reader will probably note, the authors distance themselves from the individual pathology approach to explaining interpersonal conflicts and violence, fo-cusing instead on unravelling the structural inequalities that shape conflict contexts in prisons. This approach reflects the authors' sociological perspective, as they tackle the topic by using gender, intersectionality, structural inequalities, life trajectories and capital as central conceptual investigative tools. The book has several overlapping goals. In addition to witnessing and documenting women's experiences with imprisonment, it offers a new analysis of the contemporary prison by reframing the question of trouble and violence as a further expression of broader societal inequalities. The reader should notice the absence of the increasingly present (in criminology, social sciences and public debates, as well) "security" and "dangerous criminal others" discourse. Rather than searching for dangerous prisoners, the book reveals broader violent and unsafe social structures that create interpersonal violence. The authors examine how intersectional inequalities and cumulative disadvantages are the root of prison conflict and violence. Women must negotiate these inequities by developing forms of prison capital (social, human, cultural , emotional and economic) to ensure their safety while inside. The authors also analyse how conflict and subsequent violence result from the gendered context of substandard prison conditions, inequalities of capital among those imprisoned, and relationships with correctional staff.
Prisons have long been used to respond to female criminal behavior with little thought to the unintended consequences for women, their children and the community. Since prisons for women have been modeled after those designed for their -louder and bigger brothers‖, they damage women incommensurate with the level of threat they present to society. 1 Women have long been invisible in conventional studies of the criminal justice system and in the literature of the prison. 2 As the numbers of women imprisoned in contemporary America attain unimagined size, these issues require an investigation through a gendered lens.
British Journal of Criminology, 2020
This article details how a subset of women can perceive of prison as temporary refuge from the hardships and marginalization they face on the outside. It focuses particularly on a group of 88 women incarcerated in western Canada. A large percentage of these women accentuated several reasons why they saw being incarcerated as a desirable alternative to their marginalized situation in their respective communities. These findings nuance our understanding of the place of prison in the lives of these women and draws attention to notable gaps in Canada's often-celebrated social welfare system.
Hojas de El Bosque, 2019
Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 2020
Objective: To understand the social representations that women deprived of their freedom have of imprisonment, violence, and their consequences. Method: An exploratory-descriptive qualitative study with 15 women from a female penitentiary in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Semistructured interview was used. Data submitted to thematic content analysis and interpreted under Social Representations. Results: Categories identified: “Enclosed and abandoned in the prison environment”: loss of contact with relatives, difficulties living in prison, and right to be reinserted into society. “Imprisoned in a cycle of social inequality”: lack of support, access to education and employment opportunities, leading them to engage in new illicit activities and consequent imprisonment. Final considerations: The social representations of prisoners suggest that they perceive themselves to be doubly “imprisoned”, either from the objective point of view, as an individual deprived of freedom; or subjective...
Research for Women in Prison
The book has been designed with 7 interconnecting chapters. These chapters relate to a section of the website and link with separate areas where charities or universities work. The purpose of this book is to be read as a stand-alone book, become part of a criminology degree curriculum or used by practitioners or prisoners. Chapter 1 - History/ Feminism/ Prison Reform vs Abolition Chapter 2 – Around the World – Data and Case Studies Chapter 3 – Human Rights and Violations, including Solitary Confinement Chapter 4 - Legal Issues – including sentencing, Brexit, Chapter 5 – Supporting Women – information about health, substance abuse, mental health Chapter 6 – Family Matters – visits, pregnancy, mothers and other family members Chapter 7 –Resettlement, Employability, Future Directions There is a huge gap in the current market for information that is readable, usable and in one place about women, their rights and the support they need when they are involved with the Criminal Justice system.
2019
This article aims to be an introduction to gender differences in the risks and needs of those in detention. First, we refer to six guiding principles for the development of a gender responsive criminal justice system: 1. acknowledge that gender makes a difference; 2. create an environment based on safety, dignity, and respect; 3. address substance abuse, trauma and mental health issues through integrate and culturally relevant services; 4. develop policies, practices and programmes that are relational and promote healthy connections to children and family; 5. provide women with opportunities to improve their socio-economic conditions; 6. establish a system of community supervision and re-entry with comprehensive, collaborative services. Starting from these six principles, the article briefly describes three dimensions of gender programs and services for female who are in detention, such as: women mental health care, connections with their children and women reintegration in communit...
LEARN THE WORLD OF OPPOSITE OF MALE GENDER!
2008
This study reports on the issues facing women in one of Canada's federal prisons as they planned for and began the process of community re-entry. While rehabilitation and reintegration are primary objectives of Women's Corrections in Canada today, the experiences of the women suggest the existence of persistent systemic barriers to their rehabilitation and reintegration. In the absence of a strong support system on release, successful re-entry to the community becomes particularly challenging. The result is often the revocation of parole without having committed a new offence. The report is the culmination of five years of qualitative and quantitative research with federally sentenced women (FSW). These women are or have been incarcerated in one of Canada's federal prisons for women, Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVI), in Kitchener, Ontario. Our primary concern in conducting this research has been the ways in which women can be supported to return to the community after incarceration so they may become valued and contributing members of society. The aim of our study was to understand the experiences of the women in terms of the interventions and programs received at GVI; consider the women's access to the social determinants of health as they pertain to incarcerated women; and consider the women's experiences at GVI relative to the rehabilitation and reintegration mandate of CSC's women offender sector. There is very real concern within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and among others involved with the care and rehabilitation of federally sentenced women that the prison system needs to better address the needs of women. The needs of women prisoners are distinct from those of male prisoners. The vast majority of women in prison have histories of trauma and abuse that have played a significant role in their being in prison. On their return to community many women struggle not only with the stigma of their imprisonment but also with the process of healing from trauma and sometimes the multiple challenges associated with addictions, mental health issues, and disabilities. Our research involved two primary phases. In both phases, our focus was on the women's successful return to community life. First, we examined the work of circles of support, known as Stride Circles, in a small study involving six women who were living in the community or soon to be released into the community. Second, we conducted extensive conversational interviews as part of a housing needs study with 69 of the 105 women who were in GVI between June 2006 and March 2007. These interviews have given us some insight into the women's life circumstances and the formidable obstacles they face when they are released from prison. Like most people, they need decent housing, education, a job, opportunities for leisure and for nurturing their spirituality, and access to safe and affordable transportation. Underlying this study is a focus on the relationships that are able to sustain the women in the reentry into community. Here we draw on relational theory and, in particular, the work of Jean Baker Miller and her associates Jordan, Kaplan, and Stiver at the Stone Center at Wellesley College who emphasized A prison is not only more tough for women, incarceration, particularly max security it's hell. .. how to prevent some young girls from staying here and becoming criminals. .. so talking and speaking about reintegration in society, the most important is to distinguish between male and female by gender.. . and if you have these differences and you understand the difference, it means we are not like male, 100%. (Whitney) vii the importance of relationship and self-identity for women. We also have an eye on the stress, anxiety, insecurity and low self-esteem experienced by the women as they attempt to regain access to the things that will ensure their success in community and their overall health; that is, their access to housing, income, social supports, education, leisure and health care, among other things. The World Health Organization and authors such as Dennis Raphael at York University recognize that when people are denied access to these "social determinants of health" their choices remain limited and they are prevented from being able to engage in "healthy living." Consequently, in this study we also focus on the power relationships and the ongoing supports and oppressions that are perpetuated in families, friendship networks and social groups, institutions such as prison, the welfare system and public housing, and communities that may play a role in the women's re-entry into community. Here we build on the work of the French sociologist Michel Foucault, feminist scholars such as Iris Marion Young and critical criminologists such as Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Barbara Bloom, and Karlene Faith. While the women we met as part of this research had distinct differences, they also had much in common, especially with respect to what lead to their incarceration and what they might expect on release. Most of them are not strangers to poverty and are all too familiar with trauma, addictions, assault, and discrimination. From the interviews, many themes emerged to describe the women's experiences in prison and the experiences they anticipated upon re-entry into community. Some of the women based these anticipations on experiences they had during prior releases from the federal prison system. The themes in the section Women Speak to The Strengths and Challenges of Programs in Prison describe the women's perceptions of the impact of incarceration on their sense of self, social relationships, and opportunities for education and connections with community. In The Foundations of Choice Underlying the Determinants of Health we use the women's words to describe how the women's differences in life history, consciousness, and hope affect their perceptions of choices around essentials such as housing, income, employment, and social support. In Experiencing the Transition to the Determinants of Health themes describe the women's perceptions about leaving prison and present an understanding of the differences among the women in their visions and plans for accessing the determinants of health. As discussed in this section of the report, transitional housing, including in some instances halfway houses where women must locate while under correctional supervision, present significant barriers to reintegration. Longer-term concerns include the ongoing experience of stigma, the stress and anxiety associated with a lack of affordable housing options, the difficulties in finding a decent job, and the tensions between the conditions of their parole and harm reduction approaches to addictions recovery. A deeper understanding of the relational, community and structural influences on the women's options is explored in themes under the Relational Supports and Accessing the Determinants of Health. Relationships are central to a woman's wellbeing. Women are concerned with familial relationships and relationships within the community at large. They are also deeply concerned with and affected by relations within the prison, including those with other women serving time, with prison staff, and with volunteers who come into the prison to offer support. The lack of resources, the uncertainty, and the frequent changes that occur within the ranks of staff undermine these relationships. This is problematic on a number of levels. Further, the lack of ongoing connection with members of the broader community outside of the prison creates a social chasm that the women must bridge upon their release. I'm not going to a halfway house 'cause I think that halfway houses are dangerous. I'm an alcoholic and an addict so for me to go to a halfway house with people who I've just been incarcerated with, it's too risky. I don't want to, but you know, like I have to deal with the abuse I'm still dealing with, and like, addictions, I can still feel it. It's always going to be ongoing (Lynn). viii Recommendations Current thinking at the federal level of government reflects a "get tough on crime" attitude. This is at odds with the women-centred philosophy of corrections, which found expression in the 1990 report of the Federal Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women entitled Creating Choices. Our recommendations take account of the Creating Choices philosophy. They fall into four primary areas that are critical to getting women's corrections back on track.
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