Uncertain Futures

About the Study

The study reports on the community re-integration of women who have been incarcerated in a federal prison in Canada. It is the culmination of five years of qualitative and quantitative research with federally sentenced women (FSW). These are women who are or have been incarcerated in one of Canada’s six federal prisons for women, Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVI), in Kitchener, Ontario. Our primary concern in conducting this research has been to find ways in which women can be supported to return to the community after incarceration so they may become valued and contributing members of society.

You are out, it is like, “okay she is from the prison; watch your purse”. Sometimes you didn’t even go to the prison for robbery and they think … it is like they have this stereotype, like you have been in prison and so you are scum of the earth. And then people re-offend because they can’t cope and deal [drugs], you know. (Emma)

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;
consider the women’s experiences at GVI relative to the rehabilitation and reintegration mandate of Correctional Service of Canada’s women offender sector.

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 were soon to be released into the community. Second, we conducted extensive conversational interviews with 69 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. Underlying this study is a focus on the relationships that are able to sustain the women upon re-entry into the community. 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. These aspects of everyday life pertain to the social determinants of health which help ensure the women are able to live as typical citizens in the community after release from prison.