NCJ Number
207893
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 32 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2004 Pages: 515-530
Date Published
November 2004
Length
16 pages
Annotation
A total of 27 inmates and staff at a Canadian medium-security women's correctional institution were interviewed in 1999 to obtain their views on impediments to rehabilitation at the facility.
Abstract
Those interviewed included inmates, correctional officers, treatment providers, and administrators. The findings from the interviews revealed that the deficiencies customarily associated with female correctional facilities were present at Ontario's Provincial Correctional Facility for Women (PCFW). The small number of inmates made the facility's operation very costly. The PCFW's isolation in a rural area impeded visits from family members and reduced access to community-based professional services, and even minimally trained volunteers were relatively few. Further, the older design of the facility prevented modification to ensure safety, order, proper visitation practices, exercise, or freedom from smoke. A significant number of mentally challenged inmates were incorporated into the general inmate population, where they were disruptive and without specialized programming. Correctional officers tended to be uninterested in promoting inmate rehabilitation. There is apparently little hope that facilities like the PCFW will undergo the significant changes required to achieve rehabilitation objectives for female offenders. The most viable strategy for the rehabilitation of female offenders is to provide community supervision with varying degrees of intensiveness in accordance with risk assessments. Most of the PCFW inmates had been convicted of property crimes and other nonviolent offenses. Community supervision for property, drug, and even some violent offenders would facilitate their access to community-based rehabilitation programs and permit the continuation of their family roles. Further, even the most intensive supervision, such as electronic monitoring, would be less costly than prison construction, staffing, operation, and maintenance. 75 references