Gillian Balfour
Biographic Data
| ID | 3686036 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gillian Balfour |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gillian |
| FAMILY NAME | Balfour |
| SIGNATURE | BALFOUR G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Trent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7535-5231 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 20 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Critical Prison Research and University Research Ethics Boards
This article illustrates how authoritative regulatory practices that research ethics boards may deploy when assessing non-traditional social research may pave the way to a homogenization of inquiry and forms of policing of knowledge. The authors sought institutional ethics clearance from multiple research ethics boards in the case of a critically-oriented participatory action-based study with formerly incarcerated persons in Canada. Evidence is p…
“To This Day She Continues to Struggle with the Terror Imposed upon Her”
This study locates the victim impact statements of raped women in the sociolegal context of significant sentencing law reforms introduced in Canada to address an ascendant victim’s rights movement. We examine 38 reported sentencing decisions in sexual assault cases in Ontario, Canada (1999–2010). Our objectives are to discern (a) whether the archetype of the ideal victim continues to influence juridical discourse after conviction and (b) what nar…
Searching prison cells and prisoner bodies
In this article, I explore the routinized practices of prisoner discipline: searching bodies and cells in four Canadian federal women’s prisons. Through an analysis of post-search reports as well as reported incidents of use of force, I discuss three key findings: searching and confiscation patterns across institutions are not dictated by size of the inmate population or security level of the institution; the redaction of information by prison au…
It’s Your Job to Save Me
The death of Ashley Smith represents the first time in Canadian legal history that correctional officers were criminally charged in the death of a prisoner under the care of the state. In response to these unprecedented charges, the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO) mounted a highly public campaign in defense of the officers. In this article, I review UCCO’s media statements following Smith’s death, submissions to various government …
Surviving Incarceration
Do law reforms matter? Exploring the victimization− criminalization continuum in the sentencing of Aboriginal women in Canada
In 1996 Canada introduced progressive sentencing law reforms, such as: restorative non-carceral alternatives for offenders to serve their prison sentence in the community under strict conditions for up to two years; and special consideration of Aboriginal offenders so that courts may take into account the detrimental effects of colonialism such as residential schools, family breakdown and substance abuse. This article is a quantitative examinatio…
Theorizing the intersectionality of victimization, criminalization, and punishment of women
Falling Between the Cracks of Retributive and Restorative Justice
In 1996, the Canadian government introduced progressive sentencing law reforms that called for special consideration of the conditions in Aboriginal communities as legacies of colonialism and to limit the use of incarceration. At the same time, feminist-inspired law reforms sought compulsory criminalization and vigorous prosecution of gendered violence. Since that time, there has been a doubling of the rate of imprisonment of Aboriginal women, an…
Do law reforms matter? Exploring the victimization− criminalization continuum in the sentencing of Aboriginal women in Canada
In 1996 Canada introduced progressive sentencing law reforms, such as: restorative non-carceral alternatives for offenders to serve their prison sentence in the community under strict conditions for up to two years; and special consideration of Aboriginal offenders so that courts may take into account the detrimental effects of colonialism such as residential schools, family breakdown and substance abuse. This article is a quantitative examinatio…
Falling Between the Cracks of Retributive and Restorative Justice
In 1996, the Canadian government introduced progressive sentencing law reforms that called for special consideration of the conditions in Aboriginal communities as legacies of colonialism and to limit the use of incarceration. At the same time, feminist-inspired law reforms sought compulsory criminalization and vigorous prosecution of gendered violence. Since that time, there has been a doubling of the rate of imprisonment of Aboriginal women, an…
Searching prison cells and prisoner bodies
In this article, I explore the routinized practices of prisoner discipline: searching bodies and cells in four Canadian federal women’s prisons. Through an analysis of post-search reports as well as reported incidents of use of force, I discuss three key findings: searching and confiscation patterns across institutions are not dictated by size of the inmate population or security level of the institution; the redaction of information by prison au…
Surviving Incarceration
Falling Between the Cracks of Retributive and Restorative Justice
In 1996, the Canadian government introduced progressive sentencing law reforms that called for special consideration of the conditions in Aboriginal communities as legacies of colonialism and to limit the use of incarceration. At the same time, feminist-inspired law reforms sought compulsory criminalization and vigorous prosecution of gendered violence. Since that time, there has been a doubling of the rate of imprisonment of Aboriginal women, an…
Do law reforms matter? Exploring the victimization− criminalization continuum in the sentencing of Aboriginal women in Canada
In 1996 Canada introduced progressive sentencing law reforms, such as: restorative non-carceral alternatives for offenders to serve their prison sentence in the community under strict conditions for up to two years; and special consideration of Aboriginal offenders so that courts may take into account the detrimental effects of colonialism such as residential schools, family breakdown and substance abuse. This article is a quantitative examinatio…
Theorizing the intersectionality of victimization, criminalization, and punishment of women
Surviving Incarceration
Searching prison cells and prisoner bodies
In this article, I explore the routinized practices of prisoner discipline: searching bodies and cells in four Canadian federal women’s prisons. Through an analysis of post-search reports as well as reported incidents of use of force, I discuss three key findings: searching and confiscation patterns across institutions are not dictated by size of the inmate population or security level of the institution; the redaction of information by prison au…
It’s Your Job to Save Me
The death of Ashley Smith represents the first time in Canadian legal history that correctional officers were criminally charged in the death of a prisoner under the care of the state. In response to these unprecedented charges, the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO) mounted a highly public campaign in defense of the officers. In this article, I review UCCO’s media statements following Smith’s death, submissions to various government …
Critical Prison Research and University Research Ethics Boards
This article illustrates how authoritative regulatory practices that research ethics boards may deploy when assessing non-traditional social research may pave the way to a homogenization of inquiry and forms of policing of knowledge. The authors sought institutional ethics clearance from multiple research ethics boards in the case of a critically-oriented participatory action-based study with formerly incarcerated persons in Canada. Evidence is p…
“To This Day She Continues to Struggle with the Terror Imposed upon Her”
This study locates the victim impact statements of raped women in the sociolegal context of significant sentencing law reforms introduced in Canada to address an ascendant victim’s rights movement. We examine 38 reported sentencing decisions in sexual assault cases in Ontario, Canada (1999–2010). Our objectives are to discern (a) whether the archetype of the ideal victim continues to influence juridical discourse after conviction and (b) what nar…
Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (8 works) · Criminology (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Law (4 works) · Criminalization (3 works) · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (3 works) · Prison (3 works) · Psychology (3 works)