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Looking Back 10 Years After the Arbour Inquiry: Ideology, Policy, Practice, and the Federal Female Prisoner
Abstract
The decade of the 1990s can be marked as one of major dissension, conflict, and change within federal corrections for women in Canada. In this article, the authors reflect back on this period of time by examining the correctional ideologies, policies, and practices that were operating in the Canadian federal prison for women. Finding these policies and practices to be inherently gendered and punitive in nature, it is argued that punishment was at the time and continues to be the cornerstone of the regulation of women prisoners, and that it takes a specific, gendered form that relies on the deployment of traditional patriarchal conceptions of femininity. Drawing on interviews with correctional personnel and analyses of correctional policies and the Arbour Inquiry transcripts, this article reconstructs Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) responses to incarcerated women’s “unfeminine” behavior, specifically women’s self-harming behavior and their violence against others, as overly disciplinary. It is proposed that CSC’s ideological foundation, as well as the practices and policies that were operating both at the time of and following the incident at the Kingston Prison for Women that resulted in the Arbour Inquiry, remain deeply entrenched in an oppressive hierarchical structure of gender inequality. This structure fails to question how traditional conceptions of femininity shape policies and practices. It has also aided in the construction of a new genre of “misbehaved” women in corrections, which in turn has been used to justify the harsh regulatory treatment of federally sentenced women. Without challenging its traditional gender ideologies, CSC is unable to offer any alternatives to its punitive practices, which continue to operate.
... The scant amount of scholarship is notable given that restrictive housing represents one of the most severe punishments that can be imposed on inmates (Butler & Steiner, 2017;Mears, Mancini, Beaver, & Gertz, 2013). It is notable, too, given the concerns that have been raised about the possibility that certain groups of inmates, women in particular, might suffer unique harms in this type of housing (see, for example, American Civil Liberties Union, 2014; Dell, Fillmore, & Kilty, 2009;Martel, 2001). It is notable, not least, because restrictive housing constitutes a policy whose benefits have been largely assumed and whose logic-incapacitate certain violent and disruptive inmates and deter both these and the general population of inmates-are increasingly being questioned (Frost & Monteiro, 2016;Mears, 2016). ...
... By extension, it can be anticipated that disciplinary segregation may have a differential effect on institutional misconduct among men and women. There is, for example, a growing body of work that suggests that women face many unique harms in restrictive housing settings (American Civil Liberties Union, 2014; Dell et al., 2009). Studies show that women in these settings have greater mental health and substance abuse needs compared to men (Thompson & Rubenfeld, 2013;Wichmann & Nafekh, 2001). ...
Scholars and policymakers have advanced different arguments for why restrictive housing may improve or worsen inmate behavior, yet few studies exist that assess the impact of this housing on such outcomes. This study draws upon prior theory and research to hypothesize that inmate adjustment will worsen after placement in disciplinary segregation among a three-year admission cohort of inmates from a large Midwestern state department of corrections (N = 40,979), and further that this effect will be more harmful to men. The results of our propensity score matching analyses reveal the use of disciplinary segregation is associated with a greater probability of misconduct among men and has no appreciable effect on women. These findings challenge the view that disciplinary segregation is an effective strategy for improving inmate behavior in prison. This work further highlights the need for continued research on the utility of restrictive housing.
... As is the case with any risk assessment instrument that officials use to make justice-related decisions, there is a need to ensure that our tool is not discriminatory or ineffective among different subgroups of offenders. Some segregation scholars question whether differences exist in the predictors of placement in restrictive housing or the effects of such confinement on inmate behavior (see, for example, Cochran et al., 2018;Dell, Fillmore, & Kilty, 2009;. Therefore, if agencies are to adopt a risk tool to predict segregation placement, there is a need to ensure its predictive accuracy for all inmate subcategories. ...
Proponents of restrictive housing argue that its use is an effective deterrent of antisocial behavior, while its critics maintain that the setting causes serious psychological damage and increases noncompliance with institutional rules and expectations. Unfortunately, few studies exist that examine the influence of restrictive housing on behavioral outcomes. This investigation adds to this gap in knowledge by assessing the impact of time spent in restrictive housing confinement on subsequent measures of institutional adjustment among men in prison. Logistic regression analyses reveal no statistically significant relationships between the number of days spent in restrictive housing and subsequent measures of institutional misconduct, and uncover a small, but significant, negative relationship with subsequent placement in restrictive housing. The research and policy implications of these results are discussed.
... As is the case with any risk assessment instrument that officials use to make justice-related decisions, there is a need to ensure that our tool is not discriminatory or ineffective among different subgroups of offenders. Some segregation scholars question whether differences exist in the predictors of placement in restrictive housing or the effects of such confinement on inmate behavior (see, for example, Cochran et al., 2017;Dell, Fillmore, & Kilty, 2009;Gendreau & Labrecque, in press). Therefore, if agencies are to adopt a risk tool to predict segregation placement, there is a need to ensure its predictive accuracy for all inmate subcategories. ...
Most correctional scholars and policy-makers agree that prison authorities should use restrictive housing less, yet few studies exist to provide guidance on how to do so while also ensuring institutional order. This study advances the idea that proactively providing rehabilitative programming to inmates at the front-end of prison sentences will help reduce institutional disorder. In so doing, we create and validate a risk assessment instrument to predict inmate likelihood for placement in restrictive housing during one’s commitment. The findings of this study support the predictive validity of the tool. We argue authorities can use this assessment to make more informed and targeted programming decisions during the intake process that will help reduce institutional misconduct and the need for restrictive housing.
... Empowerment strategies within Canadian women's prisons provide a useful example to think through how empowerment exists within disciplinary techniques meant to manage "risky" and "dangerous" populations (Castel, 1991). Critical criminologists (Dell, Fillmore, & Kilty, 2009;Hannah-Moffat, 2000) argue that Correctional Services Canada (CSC) appropriates the term empowerment from feminist vocabularies that use it to highlight structural inequality and patriarchy, and instead apply it to penal policy that blames deviancy on criminalized women's low self-esteem and irresponsibility. Empowerment strategies directed toward women in prison target the prisoner as a rational decision maker who can make virtuous choices if she wants to be a contributing member of society (Hannah-Moffat, 2000). ...
Psychocentrism is a governing neoliberal rationality that pathologizes human problems and frames individuals as responsible for socially structured inequalities. The homeless community provides an important case study to examine the ways psychocentrism manifests among an excluded population. This paper explores the paradox whereby homeless individuals are simultaneously pathologized and responsibilized through psychocentric discourses in which their status as economically poor becomes individualized as a symptom of mental illness and/or addiction. Although medicalized understandings of mental and emotional distress pervade the homeless industry, the obligations of freedom in the neoliberal era mean that individuals alone are held responsible for their failures. The paper examines the ways individuals experiencing homelessness are compelled to embark on an entrepreneurial project of the self that requires them to accept blame for their social precariousness. Further, it deconstructs the narratives that regard social explanations as an excuse and a failure of individual accountability. I argue that the "shamed poor" adopt empowerment discourses touted by the homeless industry, which paradoxically encourage individuals to find strength in their personal failures and to work toward self-governance, devoid of historical, social, and cultural context.
Le nombre de femmes, particulièrement de femmes autochtones, incarcérées dans les pénitenciers fédéraux canadiens et dans des unités d’isolement a augmenté régulièrement au cours de la dernière décennie. Le présent article propose une analyse des politiques fondées sur l’intersectionnalité et utilise l’étude de cas d’une femme autochtone pour examiner comment les femmes purgeant une peine fédérale vivent l’isolement et les problèmes d’inégalité qui sont illustrés par leur surreprésentation dans cette forme de détention des plus austères. Nous explorons les façons genrées et racialisées dont le Service correctionnel du Canada (SCC) interprète les comportements, les attitudes et même les personnalités des femmes qui sont placées en isolement. En examinant les politiques en matière de santé mentale, de genre et de culture dans le contexte de la gestion du risque et des besoins, nous concluons que le SCC ne protège pas les femmes marginalisées, mais convertit plutôt leurs besoins en risques à gérer. Nous proposons aussi d’autres réponses et solutions stratégiques visant à produire les changements sociaux et structuraux qui sont nécessaires pour réduire le caractère injuste des politiques et des pratiques correctionnelles.
This theoretical inquiry explores how prison-themed video games embody gendered stereotypes about prison and how these portrayals more broadly represent gendered representations serving to create a double-masculinization effect through intersecting masculine gaming cultures and masculinized assumptions about prison. Here, we form conceptual linkages between literature on gaming and gender, prison and gender, and two prior studies on prison-themed video games. Although we draw on past research, the primary intent of this inquiry is to serve as a review of the extant literature as it relates to an emerging area of research (i.e., gender- and prison-themed video games). We consider why such portrayals are important to the current discourse regarding gender in games, and in what ways inclusion in this conversation could create more comprehensive and critical outcomes in the future direction of game development, as well as the possibility for games to engage the public regarding traditionally gendered institutions.
Nineteen-year-old Ashley Smith died by her own hand in 2007 in a women’s correctional facility in Ontario, Canada. The subject of the coroner’s inquest into her death was her carceral experience and the failure of the system (leading to her death) during her time in adult federal corrections. The general focus of the inquest was on the state of federal women’s corrections in Canada and the mental health issues experienced by many incarcerated women. We produced a report and provided expert testimony at the inquest regarding the need for a developmentally informed correctional framework. In this article, which is based on our inquest report and testimony, we argue that a developmental perspective is a vital lens for understanding the incarceration experience of young women.
The death of Ashley Smith represents the first time in Canadian legal history that correctional officers were criminally charged in the death of a prisoner under the care of the state. In response to these unprecedented charges, the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO) mounted a highly public campaign in defense of the officers. In this article, I review UCCO’s media statements following Smith’s death, submissions to various government review committees, and the current Global Agreement between UCCO and Correctional Service Canada (CSC) regarding federally sentenced women. I suggest these narratives work to reproduce administrative segregation as necessary to manage “troubled young women” who are constituted as an unsafe working condition for officers. I highlight the failure of UCCO to influence government policy, unlike the effective success of unions in the United States, and I challenge the place of UCCO in Canada’s trade union movement.
This article offers a narrative analysis of the two CBC Fifth Estate investigative documentaries about Ashley Smith (“Behind the Wall,” 2010; “Out of Control,” 2010) and juxtaposes the documentary narratives against claims made by feminist criminologists with respect to women’s corrections. Examining the coherent ‘through narrative’ that is constructed in each documentary, we claim that The Fifth Estate uses dominant medicalized conceptualizations of mental illness and mental health treatment to frame the Smith case, leaving questions about the gendered nature of her criminalization, imprisonment and mistreatment unasked. Considering the socio-political context of neoliberal and post-feminist individualism, we argue that The Fifth Estate presents the case in a way that maintains the status quo and may resonate with their national audience, but which also reinforces the pathologization of women prisoners and upholds gendered stereotypes.
Gender and women’s studies is one of the most challenging fields within the social sciences-the dynamics of gender relations and the social and cultural implications of gender constructions offer a lively forum of debate. The Handbook of Gender and Women’s Studies presents a comprehensive and engaging review of the most recent developments within the field, including the study of masculinity, the feminist implications of postmodernism, the ‘cultural turn’ and globalization. The authors review current research and offer critical analyses of women’s and gender studies in work, the welfare state, family, education, religion, violence and war and feminist global politics. Edited by three leading academics from Europe and the United States, and with 25 chapters written by scholars based throughout the world, the Handbook situates the most important debates in the field within a uniquely international and interdisciplinary context. The Handbook is a useful introduction to gender theory and an exciting starting-point for fresh debates.
This collection of essays, written by Dorothy Smith over the past eight years, is a long-awaited treasure by one of the world's foremost social thinkers. In it, Smith turns her wit and common sense on the prevailing discourses of sociology, political economy, philosophy, and popular culture, at the same time developing her own sociological and feminist practice in unexpected and remarkable directions. Shedding the idiom of the sociologist, Smith inquires directly into the actualities of peoples' lives. Her critical investigations of postmodernism, political correctness, university politics, and SNAF (the Standard North American Family) draw on metaphors and examples from a stimulating range of autobiographical, theoretical, historical, political, and humorous resources. Out of an abstract encounter with Bakhtin, for example, comes an analysis of a child learning to name a bird, and a new way of seeing the story of Helen Keller. In introducing a radically innovative approach to the sociology of discourse, even the most difficult points are addressed through ordinary scenes of mothers, cats, and birds, as well as scientists, pulsars, and cell microscopes. Smith's engaged, rebel sociology throws light on a remarkable range of issues and authors, forever changing the way the reader experiences the world. This, her signature work, will delight a wide and varied audience, and enliven university courses for years to come.