Canadian prisoners' correspondence with Claire Culhane, activist and penal abolit

215 Pages·2006·3.6 MB·English

by  Rowley, Alison

"BRINGING THE OUTSIDE WORLD IN":
CANADIAN PRISONERS' CORRESPONDENCE WITH
CLAIRE CULHANE, ACTIVIST AND PENAL
ABOLITIONIST, 1976-1996
Alison Rowley
Bachelor of Arts, 2002 Simon Fraser University
THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
In the
School
of
Criminology
O Alison Rowley 2005
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Fall 2005
All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy
or other means, without permission of the author.
APPROVAL
Name: Alison Rowley
Degree: MASTER OF ARTS
Title of Thesis: "Bringing the Outside World In": Canadian Prisoners'
Correspondence with Claire Culhane, Activist and Penal
Abolitionist, 1976 - 1996
Examining Committee:
Chair: Prof. Neil Boyd
Professor of Criminology
Dr. Brian Burtch
Senior Supervisor
Professor of Criminology
Dr. Elizabeth Elliott
Supervisor
Associate Professor of Criminology
Dr. Stephen Duguid
External Examiner
Professor of Humanities
Date Defended:
SIMON FRASER ib rary
U N I W R ~ I ~
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ABSTRACT
Claire Culhane was a leading Canadian prisoners' rights activist and penal
abolitionist from 1976 until her death in 1996. Over these two decades, she corresponded
with over 1,000 prisoners to assist them with grievances and problems. A purposive
sample of the 100 most voluminous prisoner files was undertaken which yielded 9,235
items for this exploratory analysis. A dual-methodology was selected for study through
combining a content analysis with short verbatim excerpts from the archive and
interviews with faculty. The focus of the content analysis is on overt and covert violence
in prisons and prisoner resistance strategies - violent and non-violent. Excerpts allow a
venue for the prisoner correspondents to express the issues in their own words, to show
the humanness of those incarcerated, and to exemplify the methods and advice that
Culhane used in her social justice advocacy work.
DEDICATION
To the men and women who were courageous enough to ask for non-violent
solutions in violent situations by writing to Claire Culhane. Thank you for sharing your
hopes, dreams, and visions for a more inclusive future.
To the memory of Claire Culhane who set an example for all of us who wonder
what difference one person can make in this world. Claire said:
Somewhere in the human organism there is an ear that will listen, a mind
that will open, a heartbeat that will quicken, and a voice that will clamour
for the conversation of the border which exalts 'business as usual' over
one which honours concerns for others. And, when enough people realize
this and organize themselves to act upon their convictions, it will change.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are many people who have helped me with this thesis and without their
knowledge or support it would not have been possible to complete this task on my own.
I am forever indebted to my committee - Brian Burtch and Liz Elliott - for
encouraging me and for answering my many questions over the years.
Dr. Burtch, I am grateful to you as you always made yourself available to me for
consultations and constantly went beyond your job of "senior supervisor" by believing in
my ability to complete this task and always pointing out my strengths when I could not
see them myself. You are a great writer and a very resourceful researcher and most
importantly you care about your students.
Dr. Elliott, you are the perfect example of how to combine activism and
academics. The example that you set in your career, in your volunteer work, and in your
personal interaction with others inspires me. The knowledge that you have shared with
me about prisons and penal abolition has affected me very deeply and I have loved all of
our discussions. I appreciate you for sharing your many stories of Claire and your vision
for a society that does not have to rely on revenge and punishment of the "criminalized.
Thank you to my external examiner Dr. Stephen Duguid for being part of my
committee and for all of your suggestions and comments. Your thoughtful questions
gave me pause for thought and I really valued your input for improving my research.
My most heartfelt gratitude must be given to Claire Culhane and her family for
making these files available for research. It is my hope that through doing the type of
v
research I have done that we can keep Claire's work alive and that the example she set
can continue to influence others to protest the injustices in our society.
I want to acknowledge the profound contribution that Dr. Brian MacLean has
made to my education. I started out a psychology student and after taking my first
criminology course with him as an instructor, his lectures forever changed the way I look
at the world around me and re-directed my academic and career pursuits. I appreciate his
encouraging me to think abstractly, to not accept information at face-value, and to never
shy away from "getting my hands dirty".
Thank you to my family - especially my parents Howard and Terry Rowley for
their endless support in all of my academic pursuits. Don't worry Dad - you can retire
soon because I am almost finished. Mom, thanks for reading my papers and letting me
bounce ideas off of you and especially for the many, many long-distance phone
conversations.
I am grateful to Piper Davis, Lydia Fisher, Jen Boundy, Fiona Gilmour and Jack
Gaboury for all the love and support over the years, for reminding me to have balance in
my life and for always making me laugh.
Lindsay Broderick and Heather Glenn assisted me with the SPSS computer
program and helped me to be friends with my computer rather than throw it out the
window. Damian Brown I am very grateful for all the help you have given me with
formatting my thesis and your technological support towards the end of the process.
I would like to acknowledge my Alternatives to Violence (AVP) Community in
,Ferndale Institution for making me feel so welcome and accepted and for sharing your
experiences and ideas. I have learned so much from all of you and I look forward to
many more workshops.
I must credit Dr. Margaret Jackson, Dr. Robert Menzies and Dr. Karlene Faith for
making themselves available for consultation in my journey to understand Claire
Culhane's work.
Jen Kato, thank you for all of the hard work you put into helping to organize the
prisoner correspondence; without you I would still be knee deep in papers. Your
computer skills and assistance were invaluable to me.
A special thank you to the staff at UBC Rare Books and Special Collections
Library for granting me access to Claire's archive and providing space for me to work.
This research would not have been possible without your expertise. Thank you to
librarians Jack Corse and Nicole Gjertson at SFU for assisting me with research. I am
grateful to Penny Simpson for taking the time to look over the formatting of my thesis.
Your skills and suggestions for creating "new styles" were very helpful and improved my
work.
Thank you to the office staff in the School of Criminology, especially Rodrigo
Raffi who really is the best, most organized, and efficient graduate advisor imaginable.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
..
............................................................................................................................
Approval
11
...
............................................................................................................................
Abstract
111
.........................................................................................................................
Dedication iv
............................................................................................................
Acknowledgements v
...
...........................................................................................................
Table of Contents vm
...................................................................................................................
List of Figures xi
..................................................................................................................
List of Tables xi
..
.........................................................................................................................
Acronyms
XII
Chapter 1: Canada's Prison System: Resiliency in the Face of Criticism
..........................................................................................................................
and Failure 1
......................................................................................................................
Introduction 1
Resistance & Social Change: The Fight for Prisoners' Rights .......................................4
Overview of Thesis Design .............................................................................................. 6
Convict Criminology: Prisoners Who Write ...................................................................9
Notorious Prison Writers: Political Prisoners and "Common Criminals" ..................... 12
Penal Abolitionism: A Socio-Political Movement ......................................................... 14
Peacemaking Criminology: Punishment Begets Violence ............................................ 16
A Brief History of Corrections in Canada and Prisoners' Rights .................................. 17
"For their Own Good": Treatment of the Criminalized ................................................2 1
Re-integration & Control ............................................................................................... 22
. .
Alternative Visions .........................................................................................................2 7
. .
Feminlsm and Women Prisoners ....................................................................................2 9
The Power to Name and Rename ................................................................................... 32
...........................................................................
Entrenched Professional Management 34
............................................................................................................
Resisting Change 37
Violence: Space, Ideology & Practice ............................................................................3 9
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................- 41
........................................
Chapter 2: Claire Culhane .Pr ofile of an Active Activist 43
Contextualizing Claire's Prisoner Advocacy Work ....................................................... 45
Correspondence & Voice: Help Prisoners to Help Themselves ....................................5 3
................................................................................................................
Claire's Books 55
The Prisoners' Rights Group (PRG): "Stay with it Until Something Breaks" ...............5 7
...
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