NCJ Number
197007
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: 2002 Pages: 47-68
Editor(s)
Donna C. Hale
Date Published
2002
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This paper presents the results of a gendered analysis of offenders who recently participated in a community-based electronic monitoring program in Eastern Canada. The study explored the contradictions of a woman-centered philosophy built upon a male dominated model within the context of a specific community-based corrections program.
Abstract
Electronic monitoring (EM) programs are a type of community sanction where offenders are released to their homes and wear an electronic ankle bracelet tracking their movements. In Canada, several provinces and territories have established EM programs. Since the early 1990's, there has been a growing movement in Canada to adopt a “woman-centered” correctional framework. This approach was to guide future treatment, programming, and institutional mandates for female offenders. However, the approach has been lost in the area of community-based corrections with few assessments. This paper draws on a gendered analysis of electronically monitored offenders in Eastern Canada in order to describe the challenges and negative conditions that exist for women serving sentences in their homes and to assess the extent to which a woman-centered philosophy is being implemented at the community level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 females and 16 males who had completed their sentences on the EM program in Newfoundland. A comparative approach was used to illustrate how both women and men experienced electronically monitored home confinement based on a number of precipitating factors. Findings revealed that correctional administrators failed to account for the gendered differences of offenders in the design and administration of the EM program. The findings suggest that EM for women may actually be a more burdensome and draconian form of punishment than incarceration. The findings point to an “equality with a vengeance” model for women offenders serving their sentences at home. It was seen that attempts to adopt a woman-wise approach to community corrections would need a number of incorporated policies reflecting the lived experiences and realities of women’s lives. Major concerns were identified and discussed regarding community corrections, specifically electronic monitoring and women. References