Media releases

  • Brock PhD student examining vulnerable person registries

    MEDIA RELEASE: 20 December 2022 – R0137

    Lisa Whittingham (BA ’07, MA ’17) wants to know how to create better outcomes when police encounter people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

    The PhD student in Child and Youth Studies (CHYS) says that when we read headlines about a vulnerable person being injured by a police officer, it’s important to understand all of the reasons why it happened.

    “We’re looking at this one horrible moment, but a lot of things happened to get us to that moment,” she says. “There are so many different layers shaping how and when these interactions happen, and social variables may be ignored if we stay too focused on that single moment rather than looking at the complexities that led to it.”

    Whittingham is researching autism registries and vulnerable person registries, which have been implemented by various police services in Ontario over the past decade. But there is no standard or training package for using a registry.

    “The registries are promoted as an opportunity to enhance the safety of people with autism or other vulnerable people, like those with Alzheimer’s, in the community, so I think it’s really important to think through and try to understand exactly what is happening with them,” she says.

    CHYS Professor and Director of Brock’s Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice program Voula Marinos is Whittingham’s supervisor. She says that Whittingham’s multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach will support research, policy and practice.

    “There have been some high-profile and tragic cases very recently in the media about cases of persons with autism being misidentified by police and responded to in harmful ways, so we are at a tipping point, I would say,” says Marinos. “Lisa’s research will be valuable to gain more insight into the complexities of autistic-police interactions.”

    To complete her dissertation, Whittingham will look at if and how problems are conceptualized and solved by vulnerable persons registries, how a registry may influence the decision-making of police officers and how other stakeholders, including people with autism and caregivers, respond to the registries.

    “We don’t know what a lot of key players think,” says Whittingham. “The voices of people with disabilities are so important, and it’s also important to create space for caregivers, many of whom have advocated for the registries because they fear for their children. We want to ensure that the registries are useful for police, respect the concerns of caregivers and respect the rights of the person who is going to be registered, especially if that person can’t consent.”

    Whittingham herself spent several years working as a clinician and behavioural therapist with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities before beginning her current degree. She says that over time, she noticed discrepancies when individuals she treated encountered police and moved through the justice system.

    “Some police officers were comfortable using informal diversion and trying to respond to situations differently, especially if there was a behaviour support plan and behaviour therapist in place — they would agree to try that route rather than the justice system,” says Whittingham. “Whereas other officers didn’t seem to have that willingness and would proceed with charges against the person, possibly in the hopes that the justice process would result in changes in behaviour.”

    Now Whittingham is driven to “tease apart” the complexities of the registries, which have not been studied in this way, because there are so many factors to consider, including systemic challenges for individuals with disabilities like long wait lists for services and housing or limited employment opportunities.

    “It’s really important to understand how these conditions can contribute to why a vulnerable person might come to the attention of police,” she says.

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

    * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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    Categories: Media releases

  • Brock expert makes case for unionizing incarcerated workers

    MEDIA RELEASE: 15 December 2022 – R0136

    A new book from a Brock expert and a criminal defence lawyer explores the extension of legal labour protections to some of Canada’s most marginalized workers — prisoners working during their incarceration.

    Assistant Professor Jordan House in the Department of Labour Studies, with co-author and lawyer Asaf Rashid, published Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour last month with Fernwood Publishing.

    “Prison labourers are exempt from basic health and safety, employment standards and labour laws, and I think we should ask why these legal exclusions exist,” says House. “We argue that there aren’t any good public safety, legal or moral justification to exclude prisoners from normal occupational health and safety regulations.”

    House’s interest in prison justice issues dates back to his time as an undergraduate student, when he attended a workshop at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick through the Alternatives to Violence Project.

    Then, while completing his PhD dissertation on prison labour and resistance in Canada, he gave an interview about his research on campus radio with future co-author Rashid.

    When Rashid attended law school a few years later, he wrote a paper on federal prisoner unionization. After receiving positive feedback on the essay, Rashid and House decided to expand the argument into a book.

    It’s a subject that shows many parallels to the overall labour movement, according to House, but he acknowledges that some readers may be skeptical of the need for unions among prison labourers.

    “The unionization of prison labour in Canada means simply getting prisoners to be covered by all those same laws and regulations that a worker outside of prison is covered by,” he says. “We start the book with a discussion of some of the misconceptions around who is in prison and the function of prison in Canadian society, and then we talk about the reasons for these kinds of legal exclusions and whether they’re justifiable.”

    One common misconception is that prison labour is intended to be punitive.

    “If you look at correctional law and policy, prison labour in this country is supposed to be part of rehabilitation,” says House. “But how does having someone work for below minimum wage or without the right to refuse unsafe work help rehabilitate them?”

    In the book, the authors go on to explain why a union is “not only a good idea, but a possible one” with a detailed historical example of a prison union that operated in Ontario for about ten years.

    “In 1977, prisoners working at a commercial abbatoir that was part of the Guelph Correctional Centre successfully unionized alongside their non-incarcerated coworkers,” House says. “In the first collective agreement the union signed, they equalized wages between incarcerated and non-incarcerated workers, ensured that prisoners had the right to serve as officers in the union and even enabled temporary releases for prisoners to attend union meetings outside of the prison.”

    House encourages readers to take a closer look at the issues related to prisoners and work, because they may be surprised by what they find.

    “Prison labour isn’t something that many people give much thought, so they may be surprised by the fact that prisoners in Canada make pennies an hour, if anything,” says House. “Canada’s prisons have a stated goal of rehabilitation, but like almost all other rehabilitation programming, employment programming is shockingly lacking, and that raises questions.”

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

    * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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    Categories: Media releases