Rachel Fayter
I am currently a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. I currently hold a SSHRC doctoral fellowship. I am also engaged in advocacy, research, and raising public awareness about the criminalization and treatment of marginalized people in Canada, especially racialized people and women with mental health issues. I completed my B.A. (Hons. psychology) and MA degree (Community Psychology) at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.
I have been actively engaged in the Walls to Bridges (W2B) prison education program (www.wallstobridges.ca) since 2014. During this time I have contributed to planning and co-facilitating annual W2B Instructor Training sessions and multiple conferences and workshops. I am also a member of the Prison for Women (P4W) Memorial Collective (p4wmemorialcollective.com) which consists of former prisoners dedicated to creating a memorial garden and gallery space on the former grounds of Kingston, Ontario's Prison for Women to honour the memories of the many women who lived and died in Canadian prisons. I'm also a member of the Carceral Studies Research Collective out of uOttawa, the Abolition Coalition consisting of academics and activists across Canada, and the Canadian Law and Society Association. I have published about my experiences within the Canadian prison system, W2B and on social justice issues pertaining to poverty and mental health from a critical, feminist, and community psychology perspective.
My doctoral thesis is focused on the implications of unnecessarily harsh, punitive socio-economic and legal policies and the narrow depiction of criminalized women in academic and political literature. Specifically, my doctoral thesis will examine the strengths and resiliency of federally sentenced women (FSW) despite histories of trauma and incarceration within an oppressive, punitive system. This project will illustrate the importance of social support and asset-based coping mechanisms (e.g., education, music, art, family contact, cultural practices, employment training) that can provide FSW with a sense of value, meaning, and hope. These issues will be examined through the lens of holistic mental health and well-being (i.e., mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health) as opposed to an individualistic, risk and deficit-oriented, perspective that is prevalent in the literature.
Research indicates that punitive deterrence measures are not effective at preventing crime (e.g., see Webster & Doob, 2012) and the oppressive approach taken by the correctional system facilitates harmful coping strategies among women (Kilty, 2012, 2014) which presents barriers to successful community reintegration. Through my research I hope to develop a conceptual framework that illuminates women's strengths and resiliency in order to identify targets for policy changes which can support community re-entry and help to prevent further criminalization. By documenting women’s asset-based coping strategies this project will challenge problematic stereotypes of criminalized women, potentially altering public conceptions and contributing to policies that reduce social reliance on the imprisonment of marginalized people. I believe research should be conducted for the purpose of social change and strengthening our communities. A central goal of my research is to support abolitionist-oriented social change focused on community-building. Reducing social inequality and eliminating the oppression of marginalized groups requires the development of healing and empowering social structures that facilitate access to education, vocational training, meaningful employment, affordable housing, medical and mental health care, and social support for all citizens. I hope to some day develop a co-operatively owned and operated holistic community organization focused on supporting at-risk and street-involved youth, people struggling with homelessness, poverty, and addictions, and former prisoners re-entering the community. This multi-faceted organization would be based on a peer-support model employing staff with relevant lived experience. This grassroots organization would provide a vast range of services to assist clients in addressing various needs such as offering workshops for other groups and professionals, therapeutic supports, job training, employment counselling, housing assistance, a drop-in centre, recreational programs, and community-based action-oriented research and program evauations.
Supervisors: My PhD research is being supervised by Dr. Jennifer Kilty, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa, My thesis committee also includes Dr. Justin Piché, and Thesis committee member: Dr. Sandra LeHalle
Address: FSS Building, Department of Criminology
120 University Private
Ottawa, ON
K1N 6N5
I have been actively engaged in the Walls to Bridges (W2B) prison education program (www.wallstobridges.ca) since 2014. During this time I have contributed to planning and co-facilitating annual W2B Instructor Training sessions and multiple conferences and workshops. I am also a member of the Prison for Women (P4W) Memorial Collective (p4wmemorialcollective.com) which consists of former prisoners dedicated to creating a memorial garden and gallery space on the former grounds of Kingston, Ontario's Prison for Women to honour the memories of the many women who lived and died in Canadian prisons. I'm also a member of the Carceral Studies Research Collective out of uOttawa, the Abolition Coalition consisting of academics and activists across Canada, and the Canadian Law and Society Association. I have published about my experiences within the Canadian prison system, W2B and on social justice issues pertaining to poverty and mental health from a critical, feminist, and community psychology perspective.
My doctoral thesis is focused on the implications of unnecessarily harsh, punitive socio-economic and legal policies and the narrow depiction of criminalized women in academic and political literature. Specifically, my doctoral thesis will examine the strengths and resiliency of federally sentenced women (FSW) despite histories of trauma and incarceration within an oppressive, punitive system. This project will illustrate the importance of social support and asset-based coping mechanisms (e.g., education, music, art, family contact, cultural practices, employment training) that can provide FSW with a sense of value, meaning, and hope. These issues will be examined through the lens of holistic mental health and well-being (i.e., mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health) as opposed to an individualistic, risk and deficit-oriented, perspective that is prevalent in the literature.
Research indicates that punitive deterrence measures are not effective at preventing crime (e.g., see Webster & Doob, 2012) and the oppressive approach taken by the correctional system facilitates harmful coping strategies among women (Kilty, 2012, 2014) which presents barriers to successful community reintegration. Through my research I hope to develop a conceptual framework that illuminates women's strengths and resiliency in order to identify targets for policy changes which can support community re-entry and help to prevent further criminalization. By documenting women’s asset-based coping strategies this project will challenge problematic stereotypes of criminalized women, potentially altering public conceptions and contributing to policies that reduce social reliance on the imprisonment of marginalized people. I believe research should be conducted for the purpose of social change and strengthening our communities. A central goal of my research is to support abolitionist-oriented social change focused on community-building. Reducing social inequality and eliminating the oppression of marginalized groups requires the development of healing and empowering social structures that facilitate access to education, vocational training, meaningful employment, affordable housing, medical and mental health care, and social support for all citizens. I hope to some day develop a co-operatively owned and operated holistic community organization focused on supporting at-risk and street-involved youth, people struggling with homelessness, poverty, and addictions, and former prisoners re-entering the community. This multi-faceted organization would be based on a peer-support model employing staff with relevant lived experience. This grassroots organization would provide a vast range of services to assist clients in addressing various needs such as offering workshops for other groups and professionals, therapeutic supports, job training, employment counselling, housing assistance, a drop-in centre, recreational programs, and community-based action-oriented research and program evauations.
Supervisors: My PhD research is being supervised by Dr. Jennifer Kilty, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa, My thesis committee also includes Dr. Justin Piché, and Thesis committee member: Dr. Sandra LeHalle
Address: FSS Building, Department of Criminology
120 University Private
Ottawa, ON
K1N 6N5
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I begin this paper by providing a brief overview of W2B, including my experience with the program. Next, I connect literature concerning three distinct forms of oppression; namely, dehumanization/objectification, disempowerment and self-depreciation, as well as the importance of social intervention to personal experience. Thirdly, I integrate relevant literature with reflections on my own experiences to highlight W2B’s commitment to three key themes: transformational education, social justice, and maintaining a sense of community and connection. Finally, I briefly outline several key barriers to education in prison to illustrate some of the challenges and limitations of the W2B program.
We identify ten key priorities for change based on our own observations, experiences, and through several meetings and discussions with fellow prisoners at GVI. These priorities are organized according to the following themes: justice, employment issues, programs and education, food and nutrition, visits and correspondence, reintegration and parole, media and communications, the focus on punishment, health and dental care, and mental health care. Within many of these categories are various sub- themes, which go into greater detail. Each section provides an overview of our experiences and observations. We then highlight some of the negative impacts on women at GVI because of these punitive policies and practices. Since so many negative impacts overlap, we return to these intersections towards the end of the paper. Finally, we suggest some recommendations in terms of priorities for change.
I begin this paper by providing a brief overview of W2B, including my experience with the program. Next, I connect literature concerning three distinct forms of oppression; namely, dehumanization/objectification, disempowerment and self-depreciation, as well as the importance of social intervention to personal experience. Thirdly, I integrate relevant literature with reflections on my own experiences to highlight W2B’s commitment to three key themes: transformational education, social justice, and maintaining a sense of community and connection. Finally, I briefly outline several key barriers to education in prison to illustrate some of the challenges and limitations of the W2B program.
We identify ten key priorities for change based on our own observations, experiences, and through several meetings and discussions with fellow prisoners at GVI. These priorities are organized according to the following themes: justice, employment issues, programs and education, food and nutrition, visits and correspondence, reintegration and parole, media and communications, the focus on punishment, health and dental care, and mental health care. Within many of these categories are various sub- themes, which go into greater detail. Each section provides an overview of our experiences and observations. We then highlight some of the negative impacts on women at GVI because of these punitive policies and practices. Since so many negative impacts overlap, we return to these intersections towards the end of the paper. Finally, we suggest some recommendations in terms of priorities for change.