‘It's Complicated’: Canadian Correctional Officer Recruits’ Interpretations of Issues Relating to the Presence of Transgender Prisoners
| Author | ROSEMARY RICCIARDELLI,JAMES GACEK,JO PHOENIX |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12354 |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
The Howard Journal Vol59 No 1. March 2020 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12354
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 86–104
‘It’s Complicated’: Canadian
Correctional Officer Recruits’
Interpretations of Issues Relating to
the Presence of Transgender
Prisoners
ROSEMARY RICCIARDELLI , JO PHOENIX
and JAMES GACEK
Rosemary Ricciardelli is Professor, Department of Sociology, Memorial
University of Newfoundland, Canada; Jo Phoenix is Professor, Department of
Social Policy and Criminology, The Open University; James Gacek is Assistant
Professor, Department of Justice Studies, University of Regina, Canada
Abstract: Drawing upon semi-structured interviews with correctional officer recruits in
training (n =55), we reflect on recruit interpretations of transgender (trans) prisoner
placement within federal prisons in light of recent changes instigated by Canadian Prime
Minister Trudeau. Recognising that prison is a carceral and gender binary space, we
assert that trans prisoner lives and experiences cannot easily be appropriately recognised
or included in prison policy and prisoner management procedures. Our findings reveal
that most recruits are supportive and appreciative of the complexities of trans experiences,
yet some, especially those with prior experience working in prisons, describe occupational
strains tied to accommodating trans prisoners.
Keywords: Canada; carceral geography; correctional officers; correctional
work; prison studies; transgender (trans)
In an effort to recognise ‘trans rights are human rights’ (Harris 2017a)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in January 2017 at a town hall
meeting in Kingston, Ontario, pledged to look into if transgender1[trans]
prisoners could be housed on the basis of their gender identity. His com-
mitment, a response to a trans advocate seemingly surprising Trudeau
with the information that trans prisoners were housed in accordance to
their current anatomy (that is, genitalia) (Wherry 2017), came only days
after Correctional Service Canada (CSC) released a policy directive that
confirmed the continued practice of prisoner placement based on current
anatomy rather than gender self-identification. Eventually electing that
86
C
2020 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
The Howard Journal Vol59 No 1. March 2020
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 86–104
the presumption of penitentiary placement should be based upon gen-
der identity, rather than anatomy, the Trudeau government committed
to looking into current policies around trans prisoners. The commitment
was politically timely,as anti-trans ‘bathroom bills’ were sweeping across the
United States2(National Conference of State Legislatures 2017), and inter-
est in trans rights in Canada had been mobilised through, for instance, the
proposal to amend federal legislation to include anti-discriminatory pro-
tections for gender diversity (Laidlaw 2018, p.352). Meanwhile in England,
public discussion about transgender people and prisons was also gaining
ground, albeit discussions marked by vociferous disagreements about the
efficacy of Ministry of Justice placement policy. The change in CSC trans-
prisoner policy took place in a context where little research exists, from
the perspective of those working or living within the prison, about accom-
modating prisoners on the basis of gender identification.
In this article, we offer insight into the perceptions of correctional offi-
cer recruits, actively training to be federal correctional officers, in Canada,
about the issues involved in working with, and accommodating, prisoners
who identify as trans. We acknowledge that there is a growing literature
that traces, describes, and analyses the discriminations and experiences of
people in the prison system who identify as trans in the UK, Canada, and
the USA (Rosenberg and Oswin 2015; Stryker 2008; Sumner and Sexton
2015, 2016; Vitulli 2013), but in this article, we are not focused on those
experiences and do not explore issues from the perspective of individuals
who identify as trans. Instead, our intention is to provide an empirical
analysis of what recruits undertaking the Correctional Training Program
at the National Training Academy (NTA) say about the presence of trans
prisoners in the Canadian prison space. Our main argument is: from the
perspective of recruits, the presence of people who defy the binary sex
segregation that characterises prison space presents an organisational is-
sue for prisons (and thereby the people working (and by extension living)
within them). The argument is not that trans individuals per se are ‘prob-
lems’ that must be resolved, rather that the way prisons are organised
creates, for correctional officer recruits, ‘problems’ and issues over which
they puzzle. Our argument in this article is concerned with how recruits
perceive and discuss the contradictions that they anticipate emerging when
they are presented with the lived realities of working with, and caring for,
individuals who, in many ways, represent the antithesis of the ‘notional’
prisoner (for example, able bodied, male or female).3,4 As we will show,
our interviewees offer subtle and nuanced accounts that demonstrate both
their desire to recognise and meet the needs of trans prisoners and the
limits placed on their capacity to do that by the very histories, rationalities,
and continuing existence of sex-segregated prisons in the first place. Our
analysis is shaped by theories that conceptualise prisons as carceral spaces.
Yet, we do not bracket off the everyday material realities of dealing with
people in prisons.
Westructure this article as follows. First, we unpack trans prisoner policy
developments in Canada. Second, we demonstrate how carceral scholar-
ship helps to frame our empirical analysis of recruits’ perceptions of trans
87
C
2020 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
To continue reading
Request your trial