Women Offender Programs and Issues

The Cross Gender Monitoring Project
3rd and Final Annual Report

Appendix A - Interview Schedules

Hello, my name is (______) and I am with the Cross-Gender Monitoring Project. This Project was created by CSC in 1997. The purpose of the project is to track related to cross-gender staffing and ways to protect FSW from sexual harassment or assault by any non-inmate. Before we begin, I want to assure you that all interviews are completely confidential; your name will never appear in any report, memo or conversation which Project staff have with anyone as a result of our conversation. Is there anything you would like to ask me before we begin?

PART I. IDENTIFIERS

Respondent is: (check one)

1. Staff - Institutional Management

2. Staff - Institutional Line/Unit Worker

3. Staff - Institutional Other

4. Staff - NHQ Administration

5. Staff - RHQ/Provincial Administration

6. Institutional Contract Worker

7. Institutional Volunteer

8. NGO Representative

9. CAC member

10. Other

Respondent is: (check one)

1. Male

2. Female

Institution: _________________________________________

Institution is: (check one)

1. CSC facility for women

2. Provincial facility for women

3. CSC maximum security unit for women within male institution

4. CSC community residential facility

5. Provincial community residential facility

6. Privately-run community residential facility

7. Not applicable

Previously interviewed by us? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't know

Job title:___________________________________________________

Length of service:____________________ years

Length of time at this facility: _______________________ years

PART 2. TRAINING [For correctional workers only]

1. Have you taken the ten-day Women-Centred Training Program [or a provincial equivalent]?

1. Yes 2. No, but took a shorter version 3. No

[If Yes or No-but,] How long ago did you take it?_____________________

[If Yes or No-but,] What content was covered in this training?

[If Yes or No-but,] Do you feel that this training Program adequately prepared you for working with FSW? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Yes, for the basics, but would like more training.

[If No or Yes-but,] What aspects of your present work do you feel you need further training for?

(If no, why not?_______________________________________________________

2. Have you taken any other training specific to women offenders or corrections for women?

1. Yes 2. No

[If Yes,] who delivered this training? 1. CSC 2. Other (specify)

[If Yes,] how long did this training last? days

[If Yes,] what content was covered in this other training?

3. Apart from what we have already discussed, in what areas would you like more training particular to your current work with FSW (prompt if necessary: e.g., understanding dynamics of abuse, CSC policies, conflict resolution)?

3(a) What was the screening process like when you applied to work here?

3 (b) How should the screening process be improved (if applicable)?

PART 3. EMPLOYMENT ISSUES

[Note: Questions 4 through 9 should not be asked of staff/management of provincial or privately-run facilities.]

4. As you probably are aware, the job classifications and job descriptions of Primary Workers at FSW facilities are currently under review. Do you believe that these Primary Workers should continue to be in the CX classification? 1. Yes 2. No

5. Why/why not?

6. How, if at all, should Primary Workers' job descriptions be changed (what more should they reflect)?

7. As you are also probably aware, an issue has been raised that since male staff working in FSW facilities are restricted from working on Emergency Response Teams, they do not receive training in this function. As a result, their chances for transferring or applying for other jobs may be affected. How should this concern be addressed?

1. Give all staff training in Emergency Response functions

2. Train male staff in Emergency Response functions after transfer and forbid their exclusion from transfer on that ground

3. Don't know

4. Other solution (specify)

8. Should female staff at FSW facilities receive firearms training on the same rationale - that is, to prevent any disadvantage in terms of applying for other jobs or transferring?

1. Yes 2. No

9. Another issue which has been raised concerns the pairing of staff to do rounds and counts, etc. Do you think that rounds should always be done by two staff together?

1. Yes 2. No 3. It depends on the institution and situation

If no or "depends", why so?_______________________________________________________________________________

10. [Only for staff/management at facilities with an all-woman staff] Should male Primary Workers be allowed to work in institutions, living units or community correctional centres for women prisoners?

1. Yes 2. No 3. Yes, in certain circumstances

(If yes) ( a) anytime (b) only during the day

[If no] Why not?

(If "just in certain circumstances" When?_________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

11. What effect do you think the presence of male staff has on a correctional facility for women? What are the benefits (+) or disadvantages (-)? (Use symbols)

12. Do you think male staff (s), contract workers (cw) or volunteers (v) should ever be allowed to: (Read list; check all which respondent indicates - "No" and add (s) (cw) & (v)

• Conduct, witness or videotape strip searches of FSW
• Do frisk searches or pat-downs
• Take or supervise the taking of urine samples
• Do planned Emergency Response functions, such as cell extractions
• Do camera-cell duties which allow male staff to observe FSW on camera
• Do single-man counts or other duties which permit a lone man to be in living areas, bathroom areas, etc., without a female staff member present
• Do any counts or other duties (i.e., even with a female staff member present or as a partner) in living areas, bathrooms, etc.
• Be present at night in living areas, bathrooms, etc.
• Act as an escort for temporary absences without the help of a female staff member
• Do any work which permits a male staff member to be alone with one or more FSW, even if he is in sight or sound of other staff
• Do any work which permits a male staff member to be alone with one or more FSW in an area where he cannot be seen or heard by other staff
• Do any work which places a male staff member in direct contact with FSW
• Any work in here (i.e., should the facility/unit should be staffed entirely by women)
• Other (specify)

13. [If respondent believes that all duties/all direct-contact duties should be performed by female staff] Why do you oppose the use of any male staff in direct contact with FSW?

14. A concern has been raised that the restrictions on certain roles which can be performed by male staff creates an undue burden on female staff to work night shifts. What is your view of this and how should it be addressed?

1. A necessary evil - nothing can be done about it without creating even more harm

2. Not really a problem - female staff are aware of this before they sign on

3. A real concern - there should be more scope for male roles in facility in order to relieve burden on female staff to work night shifts

4. Other (specify)

Have restrictions and burden on female staff had any impact on staff morale?

________________________________________________________________________________

PART 4. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

15. Are you familiar with the National Operational Protocol for CSC women's institutions and maximum security units? 1. Yes 2. Somewhat 3. No

[Unless No,] Please tell me what are the main operational practices which are covered in the Protocol: (Check each of the following which are mentioned - Do not prompt except to say, "Anything else?")

• all front-line staff announce entry into living unit other than in quiet hours
• inmate in the bathroom at time of count to be given time to cover herself
• male staff to stay paired with female staff for living unit entries from curfew to 6 AM
• male contract/maintenance workers to be escorted by a woman while in living area
• male staff not permitted to monitor women in camera cells
• frisk searches/pat downs to be conducted only by female staff
• strip searches to be conducted, witnessed and taped only by female staff
• emergency first response may be by a man, but women must be deployed ASAP
• planned emergency response must be by a women-only team (with variants)
• male staff must not be alone with FSW except in observable area

16. What would you say is the rationale behind the Protocol? (Interviewer to rate response)

1. Good understanding of issues

2. Fair understanding of issues

3. Poor/no understanding of issues

17. Do you find there are any areas of conflict or inconsistency between the Protocol and other CSC policies or procedures? 1. Yes 2. No

[If Yes,] what are these areas, and how much of a problem are they?

18. Are there any provisions in the Protocol or any other CSC policy or procedure - as it affects the correctional response to FSW - which you disagree with? 1. Yes 2. No

[If Yes,] Please explain which provisions you disagree with and why.

19. Do you believe that currently, there is sufficient scope within CSC for appropriate disciplinary action to be taken in the case of a staff member being found to have violated the Operational Protocol? [In case of respondents who are not very familiar with the Protocol, say instead: "... found to have violated a FSW's important privacy rights, such as not announcing entry onto a living area, not giving a woman time to cover herself, or leaving a woman in an unobservable area with a male staff member or contract worker?"]

1. Yes 2. No 3. Not sure

If No, or Not sure, What do you feel is lacking, or why are you not sure?

PART 5. INCIDENTS

20. Have you ever been aware of a situation in which any of the following has taken place in an institution where you were working [CAC: "where you were a CAC member"] in the past year and a half? (Check each provision violated) [Interviewer: Note refusals to discuss as such.]

• front-line staff not announcing entry into living unit other than in quiet hours
• inmate in the bathroom at time of count not given time to cover herself
• male staff not paired with female staff for living unit entries from curfew to 6 AM
• male contract/maintenance workers not escorted by a woman while in living area
• male staff permitted to monitor women in camera cells
• frisk searches conducted by male staff
• strip searches conducted, witnessed or taped by male staff
• emergency first response made by a man, but women not deployed ASAP
• planned emergency response conducted by a team including male staff
• male staff, contract worker or volunteer alone with FSW in non-observable area
• staff, contract worker or volunteer making inappropriate references to sex to a FSW
• inappropriate sexual contact between a staff member, contract worker or volunteer and a FSW

Describe details or other situations given by respondent:

21. Does CSC policy prohibit any of the situations I just described (re-read list if necessary)

1. Yes, all of them

2. Yes, _____________ of them (count the number respondent knows are violations)

3. No, they are all permissible if the circumstances dictate

22. In that/those instance(s) which you said took place in the past year and a half, was any disciplinary action taken against staff, and was the disciplinary action appropriate? (boxes below allow for coding of up to four situations - use reverse for more)

1. Yes, appropriate	_	_	_	_
2. No, too harsh	_	_	_	_
3. No, too lenient	_	_	_	_
4. No action was taken	_	_	_	_
5. No action was taken because this was not a violation of any policy or procedure	_	_	_	_
6. Not applicable (has not heard of any such violations)	_	_	_	_
7. No response/refused to answer	_	_	_	_

23. Do you believe there should be any changes to procedures or disciplinary actions which are available in cases where staff violate important policies or procedures? And if so, what more is needed?

24. Do you believe there should be a [CSC] policy which specifically prohibits sexual harassment of FSW?

1. Yes 2. No 3. Yes, under conditions or of a certain type

If No, why not? 1. Implied in other existing policies 2. Other (specify)

[If Yes or qualified Yes,] what behaviours do you think a sexual harassment policy should prevent or prohibit?- (check all that are mentioned -- Do not prompt other than to say, "Anything else?")

_ sexual assault

_ any touching of a FSW except in a security situation

_ improper use of frisk or strip searching powers or procedures

_ sexual contact with a FSW in exchange for consideration

_ "consensual" sexual contact with a FSW

_ any sexually suggestive language or "joking"

[If Yes or qualified Yes,] And should such a policy apply to staff or inmates or both? (check all that are mentioned -- Do not prompt other than to say, "Anyone else?")

_ protection of FSW from any staff member in any of the above situations

_ protection of FSW from any staff member, contract worker or volunteer

_ protection of FSW from any inmate in any of the above situations

25. Are there any circumstances in which you believe there should automatically be an outside investigation of incidents or alleged incidents? For example, if an allegation is made that a staff member or outside worker or volunteer sexually assaulted a FSW? 1. Yes 2. No

[If Yes, ] what kinds of circumstances would warrant an automatic outside

investigation?

PART 6. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

26. On a five-point scale, where "1" means it does not work well at all and "5" means that it works very well, how would you rate the effectiveness of the CSC inmate grievance system in resolving inmate complaints to the satisfaction of all parties?

1....................2....................3......................4....................5

27. Are there any ways which you would suggest to improve the inmate grievance procedure?

28. Would you support the creation of an institutional/unit committee of equal numbers of staff and inmates, trained in conflict resolution procedures, to try to resolve grievances at the first level? 1. Yes 2. No 3. For some grievances (specify)

29. Why/why not?

30. Is there a way to make outside review of rejected grievances more effective? Who should perform this outside review function, how, and at what stage in the process?

31. Should allegations about sexual harassment/assault be handled differently from the present grievance system? 1. Yes 2. No

If yes, how should they be handled?______________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

PART 7. GENERAL

32. Apart from what we have already discussed, are there any changes you would like to suggest which would make an improvement to how things are done or how effective the system [or this institution] is?

33. Finally, is there anything at all that we have not discussed which you believe is relevant to the issues we have been talking about or to effective correctional practice for FSW generally?

That concludes the interview. I want to thank you very much for participating.

 

CROSS-GENDER STAFFING PROJECT
FSW (INMATE) QUESTIONNAIRE

Hello, my name is (______) and I am with the Cross-Gender Monitoring Project. This Project was created by CSC in 1997. The purpose of the project is to track issues related to cross-gender staffing and ways to protect FSW from sexual harassment or assault by any non-inmate. Before we begin, I want to assure you that all interviews are completely confidential; your name will never appear in any report, memo or conversation which Project staff have with anyone as a result of our conversation. Is there anything you would like to ask me before we begin?

PART I. IDENTIFIERS

Institution: _________________________________________

Institution is: (check one)

8. CSC facility for women

9. Provincial facility for women

10. CSC maximum security unit for women within male institution

11. CSC community residential facility

12. Provincial community residential facility

13. Privately-run community residential facility

1. Previously interviewed by us? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't know

2. How long have you been at this facility?

3. [If at provincial or privately-run facility] Have you ever done time at a facility run by CSC? 1. Yes 2. No

[If Yes] Which one(s) and how long ago?

PART 2. EMPLOYMENT ISSUES

4. Should male Primary Workers be allowed to work here? 1. Yes 2. No

Why or why not? _____________________________________________________________________________________

13. In that/those instance(s) which you said took place in the past year and a half, was any disciplinary action taken against staff, and was the disciplinary action appropriate? (boxes below allow for coding of up to four situations - use reverse for more)

1. Yes, appropriate	_	_	_	_
2. No, too harsh	_	_	_	_
3. No, too lenient	_	_	_	_
4. No action was taken	_	_	_	_
5. No action was taken because this was not a violation of any policy or procedure	_	_	_	_
6. Not applicable (has not heard of any such violations)	_	_	_	_
7. No response/refused to answer	_	_	_	_

• Are there any circumstances in which you believe there should automatically be an outside investigation of the incidents or alleged incidents? For example, if an allegation is mde that a staff member or outside worker or volunteet sexually assualted a FSW? 1. Yes       2. No

(If Yes) What kinds of circumstances would warrant an automatic outside investigation?________________________________________________________________________

PART 5. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

• Now I would like to talk about the Inmate Grievance Procedure. Are you familiar with how it works? 1. Yes 2. No
• How would you rate it on a scale of five points, where "1" means it does not work well at all and "5" means that it works very well in resolving inmate complaints?

1....................2....................3.....................4....................5

17. Are there any ways which you would suggest to improve the inmate grievance procedure?

Are you familiar with the informal conflict resolution mechanism?

1. Yes 2. No

19. How would you rate it on a scale of five points, where "1" means it does not work well at all and "5" means that it works very well in resolving inmate complaints?

1.................2................3.....................4......................5

20. Are there ways in which it could be improved?_______________________________________________________________

21. Would you support the creation of an institutional/unit committee of equal numbers of staff and inmates, trained in conflict resolution procedures, to try to resolve grievances at the first level? 1. Yes 2. No

Why/why not?

23. Is there a way to make outside review of rejected grievances more effective? Who should perform this outside review function, how, and at what stage in the process?

24. Should allegations/complaints about sexual harassment/assault be handled differently from the present grievance procedure? 1. Yes       2. No

If yes, why?_____________________________________________________________

GENERAL

25.. Apart from what we have already discussed, are there any changes you would like to suggest which would make an improvement to how things are done here?

26. Finally, is there anything at all that we have not discussed which you believe is relevant to the issues we have been talking about or to FSW generally?

That concludes the interview. I want to thank you very much for participating.