criminalized women and punishment

the 'risk society'

as society comes out of industry era, society became focused on risk management to be a major organizing principle of contemporary societies.

Risk assessment and Penal Policy

risk management has become central to penal policy. it used to be focused on punishment but it is now focused on preventing.

1980-90s - development and implementation of risk assessment tools and screening practices on a large scale.

risk assessment can

essentialize social categories and mark some populations as inherently risky.  With this shift, various groups are profiled and regarded as "at risk," such as women, youth, and children, whereas others are defined as "risky" and in need of special legislative control, such as offenders, the mentally ill, immigrants and refugees, welfare recipients, and the homeless.

the 'black box' of risk assessment

the routinized integration of risk assessment practices can create an illusion of objectivity and moral neutrality.

renders invisible the central role of human discretion and judgement. as those examining the criminals, people have their own beliefs and judgements that can be biased when giving someone a score

Canadian Penal Policy

international model of 'women centered policy'.

Creating choices - the report of the task force on federally sentenced women. The penal policy must incorporate gender responsiveness and cultural sensitivity. The pressure to be gender responsive, or to make what Carlen (2002) calls "woman-wise" decisions that take into consideration gender-relevant criteria is evident in Canadian parole culture.  

gender sensitivity training outlines academic and correctional research findings that describe the characteristics of the female offender population, their self-reported needs and experiences, and qualitative and quantitative differences in female offending patterns and barriers to release or reintegration

The corrections and Conditional release act of 1992

CCRA stipulates that policies "must respect gender, ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences and be responsive to the special needs of women and Aboriginal people, as well as to the needs of other groups of offenders with specific requirements.

How do parole board make risk determinations?

parole release decisions rely on risk based determinations of (violent) recidivism which puts emphasis on public safety. or thru mental health and personality.

Considerable disagreements among parole board members over the relevance of gender, as "the legislative criterion was the same" and because "fair decisions" are "based on evaluations of risk criteria that are the same", both men and women parole board members had similar views.

what were the factors of determining risk of recidivism

women were considered higher risk if they had - a history of victimization (mitigated of the offender was perceived as a passage agent (no active resistance)) and a history of violence charges (usually resisting arrest), and relationship with violent men as they can be coerced into crime.

mental health and recidivism

women were also considered high risk if they were diagnosed with mental health disorder by - not taking medication, and engagement in self destructive behaviour. women that rebelled or acted unruled could be given a diagnoses even if they dont agree to it

attitude, personality and recidivism

women were lower risk for recidivism for taking accountability but seen as high risk if they had a 'disciplinary problem' and they were perceived as having a 'disreputable conduct' during arrest and / or attention.

Connect them to emotional/behavioral difficulties describing these women as antisocial, impulsive, immature, unstable.

These links then are carried over into narratives about the offense cycle and decision narratives.

the social construction of deviance

deviance - a behaviour that violates expected rules and norms which like likely censured or punished that is socially constructed.

Deviance doesn't exist outside of its historical and social context. What makes a behaviour deviant is the fact that society constructs it as such.

mental illness as a form of deviance

mental illnesses are socially constructed categories.

specific diagnoses and treatment plans gain and lose popularity(change of perspective of people reacting to their environment / normal suffering to a disorder).

Through the process of medicalization, deviant thoughts, emotions and behaviours are transformed into symptoms of mental health illness. ex - person committing violence without a cause can be seen as a symptom of mental illness

psychiatry and women

women's issues are more vulnerable to medicalization and medical surveillance (ex - hysteria, DV).

Women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with mental illness due to beliefs of women being seen as more irrational, emotional and more burdened by their bodies but women are also more likely to request a medical treatment

psychiatry as technology of social control

it is a sorting mechanism that separates the mad from the same.

Diagnoses foster the belief that categories can be drawn neatly and that people can be categorized in an objective and reliable manner. This then legitimizes disciplinary power, state intervention and surveillance.

why is psychiatry the right tool for the carceral enterprise?

psychiatry treatment is more common in women's prisions more than mens. 1. it fits with the needs of the prison

increasing numbers of criminalized women diagnosed with mental health disorders

1. psychiatric deinstitutionalization (populations that used to be in public with mental illnesses are now in prison)

2. 2. social experiences leading to criminalization also cause psychological distress

3. 3. criminalization causes psychological distress and

4. 4. changes in diagnostic practices

Psychiatric treatment in Canadian Women's prisons

compulsory psychiatric treatment, over prescribing of medication (87% of women in federal prison), shortage of counselling services and denied access to medication and psychological treatment

what are major critiques of psychological intervention in Canadian women prisons?

can affect their changes of attaining parole, or other legal cases in the future. There is not a lot of agency in psychiatric treatment as they are forced to accept the diagnosis. not a great relationship between psychiatrist and individual

criminal code of canada 1996 amendments

sentences should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender.

'an offender should not be deprived of liberty if less restrictive sanctions may be appropriate in the circumstances'. Judges must consider all available sanctions other than imprisonment and with attention to the circumstances to those who are Indigenous. as well as accounting for accounting for aggravating (criminal record, premeditation) and mitigating circumstances.

R. v. Gladue - Amendments

goals - to reduce over-reliance on incarceration, expand usage of restorative justice principles, and design sentences more appropriate and meaningful to Indigenous Peoples.

Recognizes prisons as culturally inappropriate and discriminatory towards them and describe restorative justice as in line with traditional conceptions of sentencing

R. v. Ipeelee

courts must take notice of matters like history of colonialism, displacement, and residential schools and how that continues to translate into low educational attainment, lower incomes, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse. these are called gladue factors but may diminish 'moral culpability' and considered mitigating factors