NCJ Number
112970
Journal
Women's Studies International Forum Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (1988) Pages: 235-244
Date Published
1988
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This teacher's assessment of a women's studies course, a college-credit course sponsored by Simon Fraser University in conjunction with the Correctional Services of Canada, taught at an all-male medium security prison focuses on the comparative responses and performances of the students.
Abstract
Course materials were similar to those used on campus, with some allowances for an all-male group. The instructor compared these students and previous students (almost exclusively female) of this course. The male inmate students were highly motivated and vocal. They expressed a similar level of stereotypical attitudes as oncampus students and were apparently receptive to course concepts to a comparable degree. Their written work was poorer, in many cases, than that of oncampus students, but their participation rate in classroom discussion was noticeably higher. Overall, the male inmate students apparently benefited from the course at least as much as any previous group of students over the short term. Women's studies for men could be successful outside a prison environment if courses are constructed and presented within a context which emphasizes empathy with women from a perspective that believes that although individual men are not responsible for the collective conditions of women, they are responsible for the implications of their own actions. 2 footnotes and 1 reference. (Publisher abstract modified)