Conflicting agendas: evaluating feminist programmes for women offenders. PhD thesis, University ...

236 Pages·2017·12 MB·English

by  Christine Middleton

CONFLICTING AGENDAS:
EVALUATING FEMINIST PROGRAMMES FOR WOMEN OFFENDERS
Margaret Shaw B.A. Hons.
Thesis submitted to the Unin~rsity of Nottingham for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy, October 1997.
ABSTRACT
This thesis is concerned with the central rationale of feminism, and thus of feminist
perspectives in criminology, to bring about change for women subject to the criminal justice system.
It argues that any attempt to influence that system, to bring about change or reform, must be
considered within the broader context of policy-making and programme development and their
underlying assumptions and purposes, as we]] as in relation to specific contextua]]y located histories.
It does so by tracing the history of a particular feminist initiative in Canada - a community-based
programme in Nova Scotia which offered feminist therapy and counse]]ing to women in conflict with
the law. It traces the processes of funding and evaluation for the federal government, and the
differential experiences of the project and its clients, the researchers, and the funders.
In so doing it considers the role of policy and programme development and of feminist
attempts to reform and their failure to impact the lives of sentenced women; it examines the
development of feminist methodology and contrasts it with mainstream correctional methodology
and evaluation; it explores the development of feminist intervention and some of the problems
inherent in such approaches and their appropriateness for women in the correctional system; and it
examines the difficulties encountered in evaluating a feminist initiative. The views of the project and
of its women clients are explored to assess the impact of the intervention, its benefits for the women,
as well as its limitations.
This analysis shows how the project, while successful in avoiding many of the problems of feminist
intervention, was unable to sustain itself beyond the period of federal funding, while the evaluation
itselfproved to be a difficult process. The discrepancies between feminist ways of working and the
dominant correctional models, the assumptions underlying programme development and evaluation,
and the limitations of that approach are revealed as a series of over-lapping layers which impact on
feminist endeavours.
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To Jim, Tom and Alexandra and my parents.
III
CONTENTS
Abstract
11
Acknowledgements
Vlll
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
The plan of the thesis 2
Policy-making, programme development and the refonn agenda 5
Feminism, women and the refonn agenda 10
Feminism and criminal justice 11
The failure of feminism to affect the lives of women offenders 16
Summary 21
CHAPTER 1 THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE 23
Change affecting women offenders 28
Pressure for change 29
The Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women 32
Implementation 34
The development of feminist intervention programmes 35
The impact of change: what can go wrong? 37
Summary 38
CHAPTER 2 FEMINISM, METHODOLOGY AND EVA LUA TION 40
From feminist methodology to epistemology 40
Feminist methodology and criminology 43
Feminist methodology viewed from corrections 50
To engage or not to engage? 52
E\'aluation in criminal justice 55
The darker ages 56
IV
Resurrecting evaluation and rehabilitation 58
Other critics 67
Evaluating programmes and policy development initiatives 70
Summary 73
CHAPTER 3 FEMINISM AND THE NEW AGE: FEMINIST INTERVENTION 76
Feminist therapy and counselling 77
How it works. 80
Does it work? 82
Needs-talk and self-esteem 87
Feminist therapy and counselling in the correctional setting 92
Help yourself - the self-help syndrome 102
Summary 104
CHAPTER 4 THE COVERDALE COMMUNITY CHAPLAINCY PROJECT 107
The site of the study 107
The development of the Community Chaplaincy Project 109
Negotiating funding for the project 111
The project evaluation 113
The Community Chaplaincy Model 116
Project staff and the Advisory Committee 119
120
Working methods
Social work, counselling and therapy 120
The setting and pattern of work 122
126
Education and outreach activities
127
Assessing impact - who used the project
128
Reasons for referral to the project
The extent and type of content 130
132
Summary
\'
CHAPTER 5 ASSESSING IMPACT: EXPERIENCING FEMINIST COUNSELLING 134
Community interviews
135
First impressions - feeling comfortable 135
Responding to women in crisis 137
Being a Chaplain
138
What happened during sessions 139
A different kind of approach - establishing a sharing and
empowering relationship 141
Confidentiality and professional boundaries 144
Empowerment and change 145
A safety net 147
The limitations 148
A network of support 149
Interviews at the Correctional Centre 150
Support and counselling in a restricted setting 151
Anger management in the prison 154
Summary 154
CHAPTER 6 ASSESSING A FEMINIST INTERVENTION 156
The demise of the project 156
The risks of over-extending human resources 157
The power of funders 158
Assessing the intervention 160
Avoiding the pitfalls of feminist intervention 161
Expert knowledge 164
167
Resistance or entrenched problems
169
A unique approach?
Assessing the evaluation 172
175
The implications of differing research standpoints
176
Doing feminist research
Summary 178
CHAPTER 7 CONFLICTING AGENDAS 180
•
Passionate commitment 180
The location of projects within the wider system of policy development
and assessment 182
Feminist modes of work and the contemporary correctional view 184
Degrees of success 189
Developing [feminist] programmes for women or what is the role of
feminism for offending women? 194
In conclusion 197
DIAGRAM 1 Feminist Intervention and Evaluation v. Contemporary
Correctional Models 200
APPENDIX I Interviews and Background Information 201
APPENDIX II Tables 204
APPENDIX III Organizations and Services to Which Women Were
Referred by the Community Chaplain 206
208
REFERENCES
..
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ACKNO\VLEDGEMENTS
This thesis would not have been possible without the great generosity and support of many people.
I am grateful first of all to Mary Haylock - as well as all those involved in the project at Coverdale
for ~heir patience with an outsider 'from away', for their immense energy and commitment, and for
allowing me for a while to take a part in their project. I am especially grateful to all the women going
through the project who agreed to talk to yet further strangers about their lives and experiences, and
for allowing me to write about their views. My thanks are also due to all those in Nova Scotia who
gave me their time, allowed me to ask questions and to watch or take part in their activities. I am
indebted too to Monica Symes and Vikki Sweeney, the other members of the research team, who
entered fully into the research and used their skills and sensitivity to great effect. From all of them
I have learned a great deal.
I am , in spite of the critique contained in this thesis, indebted to the Ministry of the Solicitor General
for enabling me, at close quarters, to examine and reflect upon the development of programmes and
policies for women in conflict with the law in Canada. They, of course, are not responsible for the
views I express. These views are offered not as 'knowledge destruction' but in a spirit of constructive
I
criticism and in the hope that they can contribute to a better understanding of what the criminal
justice system does to women and men who are subject to it.
As always, I am grateful to Tina Hattem for her continuing questioning of the 'truth'. Finally, I
would like to thank my supervisors Becky Morley and Bill Silburn for their continued support and
their patience.
\'Ill
CONFLICTING AGENDAS: EVALUATL"G FE~II:\lST PROGR.\~nlES
FOR WOMEN OFFENDERS
all knowledge, necessarily, results from the conditions of its production, is
contextually located, and irrevocably bears the marks of its origins in the minds
and intellectual practices of those lay and professional theorists and researchers
who give it voice.
(Stanley and Wise, 1990 p.39)
INTRODUCTIOl'i
In 1991, in a small community-based organization providing services for women in conflict with the
law in Nova Scotia, it was decided to develop an entirely new programme which would meet cl ient
needs in a way not previously envisaged. This involved the development of feminist therapy and
counselling approaches for women offenders who had experienced physical and sexual abuse.
Preliminary funds were sought from local funding agencies enabling the nascent project to hire
space, support staff, and books and equipment to keep the project afloat for six months. Encouraged
by the enthusiasm of the clients and the interest of criminal justice agencies, the organization
determined to look for more ambitious and long-term funding sources. The project seemed to be
timely and appropriate given the high level of interest in women's victimization and its links with
offending.
After over a year of negotiations the Federal government of Canada agreed to fund the project under
its Family Violence programme development strategy, a source of project funding support designed
to encourage new initiatives and innovative programmes in areas thought important. For eighteen
months the project was financially secure, and developed and expanded its scope and working
methods. With that funding source came the obligation to submit to external evaluation so that
programme development staff could assess how innovative and viable the project really \\as, and
how appropriate it might be for development else\vhere.
As the first full year of funding came to a close, the organization began - again - its search for
follow-on funds to sustain the now considerable volume of work and the expanding client lists. Some
two hundred women were now 'on the books' with expectations of regular or more extended contact
with the project. Expectations about the 'worth' of the project and the potential pool of clients who
could benefit from its services remained high. The final six months of federal funding became a
1
period of greater stress as client demands continued to expand, working levels, which had always
been high continued unabated, and additional energy had to be put into strategies for gaining funding
support. No substantive funding was forthcoming, the Provincial government's promises and
commitments made at the start of the project failed to materialize. By 1994, three years after the start
of the project, and in spite of a favourable evaluative report, it had ceased to exist.
Such a morality tale may not surprise many at a time of economic uncertainty and recession, or a
period in North America or Europe when deficit reduction and cuts in government funding have
become the norm. Nor may the demise of the project surprise those who see evidence of a backlash
against feminism in the reversal of interest by the provincial government (eg. Fa ludi, 1991; Chesney
Lind, 1995; Rush, 1990 in Hester, Kelly & Radford, 1996). Feminist projects are perhaps bound to
upset established bureaucracies since they challenge existing decision-making in an uncomfortable
way. Yet such an easy explanation for the demise of the project glosses over a number of the
problems endemic to such a venture, and is too easy. It is not just feminism which is 'easily
dismissed'. There are countless examples of grass-roots projects which flourish for short periods of
time until funds, or the energies of their organizers, run out (eg. Cannings, 1990). The project
provides an opportunity to examine some of the problems of feminist therapy and counselling in the
criminal justice field, the ki~ds of assumptions upon which such programmes are based, as well as
the problems of evaluating feminist programmes. Beyond that, it provides an opportunity to examine
some ofthe implicit assumptions and underlying tensions inherent in treatment and reform agendas
and their evaluation.
THE PLAN OF THE THESIS
This thesis is concerned with the central rationale offeminism, and thus of feminist perspectives in
criminology, to bring about change for women subject to the criminal justice system. It argues that
any attempt to influence that system must be considered within the broader context of policy-making
and programme development, and their underlying assumptions and purposes, as well as in relation
to specific contextually located histories. It does so by tracing the history of a particular feminist
initiative - the Coverdale Community Chaplaincy Project - as a community-based programme in
Nova Scotia offering feminist therapy and counselling to women in conflict with the la\v. It traces
the processes of funding and evaluation for the federal government of Canada, and the differential
experiences of the project and its clients, the researchers and the funders. In so doing the thesis
critically assesses a number of issues: