Community Re-Entry

"Community Re-entry is an invaluable contribution and compelling must-read not only in academic scholarship, but also to all front-line workers in community social services devoted to work with marginalized and isolated criminalized women, and those at-risk of criminalization. Merging several theoretical frameworks – relational, post-structuralism, critical feminist, disability and race theories – allows the researchers to contextualize what are often pathologized needs and risk factors. It further permits a critical evaluation of what are often characterized as new and innovative terms, such as empowerment, as continuing the retributive patterns such language sought to redress originally. The findings corroborate many found in this body of literature – uniquely gendered pathways, systemic forces guiding a woman’s ‘choices,’ and the intersecting needs to be addressed – with perfect articulation and context 28 years after Creating Choices was published. As a community agency devoted to the integration of women, this research supports the value of our ongoing quest toward meaningful, supportive connections and sense of belonging for all women." – The Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston (Stacey Alarie, Programs Administrator)

"Pedlar, Arai, Yuen and Fortune offer readers an urgently-needed examination of women’s experiences in the Canadian federal correctional system and emerging from it. A rare, 10-year longitudinal study with impeccable scholarship, the book prioritizes the insights, voices and analyses of women who are themselves navigating the system. Community Re-Entry: Uncertain Futures for Women Leaving Prison is a must-read, and I hope we all listen to its recommendations!" – Simone Weil Davis, Associate Director of Ethics, Society & Law at Trinity College, the University of Toronto; co-founder of the Walls to Bridges program at Wilfrid Laurier University, Kitchener

"A place to call home, a fairly compensated job, connections to family and friends, a regard for one’s personhood and the sense that one matters all have the power to stop the revolving door we have become so tragically accustomed to in our correctional system. The book not only gives voice to those rarely heard (women inside corrections) it also amplifies basic principles of justice and common sense that have been lost to ill-conceived notions of evil. The evidence on what we need to do to succeed in rehabilitation is well documented, not new and surprisingly simple: If getting out means you enter the “nowhere society,” staying out is almost impossible. Instead, being valued, having the chance to meaningfully contribute to community, being included, being met with authenticity and compassion and having your basic needs met are our most powerful tools for change. They are also the very essence or upstream prevention. This book shines a light on the shadow sides of incarceration that follow on the heels of decades of neglect of knowledge in an attempt to cater to a perceived vengeful public." – Christiane Sadeler, Executive Director, Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council

"Community Re-entry is an invaluable contribution and compelling must-read not only in academic scholarship, but also to all front-line workers in community social services devoted to work with marginalized and isolated criminalized women, and those at-risk of criminalization. Merging several theoretical frameworks – relational, post-structuralism, critical feminist, disability and race theories – allows the researchers to contextualize what are often pathologized needs and risk factors. It further permits a critical evaluation of what are often characterized as new and innovative terms, such as empowerment, as continuing the retributive patterns such language sought to redress originally. The findings corroborate many found in this body of literature – uniquely gendered pathways, systemic forces guiding a woman’s ‘choices,’ and the intersecting needs to be addressed – with perfect articulation and context 28 years after Creating Choices was published. As a community agency devoted to the integration of women, this research supports the value of our ongoing quest toward meaningful, supportive connections and sense of belonging for all women." – The Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston (Stacey Alarie, Programs Administrator)

"Pedlar, Arai, Yuen and Fortune offer readers an urgently-needed examination of women’s experiences in the Canadian federal correctional system and emerging from it. A rare, 10-year longitudinal study with impeccable scholarship, the book prioritizes the insights, voices and analyses of women who are themselves navigating the system. Community Re-Entry: Uncertain Futures for Women Leaving Prison is a must-read, and I hope we all listen to its recommendations!" – Simone Weil Davis, Associate Director of Ethics, Society & Law at Trinity College, the University of Toronto; co-founder of the Walls to Bridges program at Wilfrid Laurier University, Kitchener

"A place to call home, a fairly compensated job, connections to family and friends, a regard for one’s personhood and the sense that one matters all have the power to stop the revolving door we have become so tragically accustomed to in our correctional system. The book not only gives voice to those rarely heard (women inside corrections) it also amplifies basic principles of justice and common sense that have been lost to ill-conceived notions of evil. The evidence on what we need to do to succeed in rehabilitation is well documented, not new and surprisingly simple: If getting out means you enter the “nowhere society,” staying out is almost impossible. Instead, being valued, having the chance to meaningfully contribute to community, being included, being met with authenticity and compassion and having your basic needs met are our most powerful tools for change. They are also the very essence or upstream prevention. This book shines a light on the shadow sides of incarceration that follow on the heels of decades of neglect of knowledge in an attempt to cater to a perceived vengeful public." – Christiane Sadeler, Executive Director, Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council