Utilizing trauma-informed approaches in prisons for federally sentenced women: Challenges and recommendations

Abstract

This paper examines literature, policy documents, and government reports on trauma-informed care in federal prisons for incarcerated women and the difficulties of providing such care in a carceral environment. Incarcerated women represent a minority of incarcerated people in Canada, and they typically have increased rates of trauma compared to incarcerated males, which impairs their ability to participate in correctional programs fully. Many researchers recommend implementing trauma-informed approaches in correctional settings, and Correctional Service Canada (CSC) has attempted to do so for federally sentenced women by adhering to principles outlined in Creating Choices, a report created to influence the care of incarcerated women. Despite CSC’s efforts to use trauma-informed approaches, the non-therapeutic prison environment and the power dynamics between prisoners and staff make it impossible to provide trauma-informed care in prisons, as women are often re-traumatized in prison due to common security practices such as strip searches. Therefore, this paper offers policy change recommendations, including eliminating strip searches and providing correctional programming led by external treatment providers, that would minimize the harm women experience while incarcerated. However, given the inherent harms associated with prison that cannot be addressed through reform, allowing women to serve their sentences in the community is optimal and necessary to reduce the use of imprisonment and truly provide them with trauma-informed care.