By Nadeem Basaria

In April 1999, a 14-year-old sawed off his stepfather's rifle and gunned down a 17-year-old at his high school in Alberta.  In August 2005, he walked away from a Toronto halfway house.  Although he is now back in custody, his escape has the public asking questions about the value of halfway houses to prisoner reintegration in society.

     According to Professor Kelly Hannah-Moffat of UTM's sociology department, halfway houses are necessary for society. 

     "Most people base their opinion of halfway houses on the media's portrayal of extreme cases -- when people escape and re-offend," says Hannah-Moffat.  "But the reality is that 90 per cent of the people in halfway houses do not re-offend.  The anomalies drive public opinion, and you can't base public policy on public opinion, particularly when public opinion is often misinformed."

      With Canada's sentencing structure, every offender, except those serving life, is eventually released into society.  So it is important to plan for reintegration when people are incarcerated.  "Release from prison is inevitable, but in halfway houses, release is restrictive.  We know whether offenders are going to programs and where they are at night.  We have at least some control of their movement," says Hannah-Moffat. 

     In our correctional system, an incarcerated offender is eligible for parole after serving one-third of his or her sentence.  If denied, the law states that, unless held by a detention order, the offender is released at the two-thirds mark and spends the rest of the sentence in the community.  At this point, the offender is usually given conditions he or she must follow to avoid further incarceration.  These conditions may include having the offender live under supervision in a halfway house for the remainder of the sentence. 

     Typically, offenders in halfway houses receive counselling, treatment and exposure to specific programs that will help with their reintegration.  Some work, attend school and receive off-site treatment to help them prepare for life in society.  While the level of security varies, offenders must normally report their whereabouts at all times to halfway house officials, and must report back before their designated curfew.

     Offenders need help to make the adjustment back into society and halfway houses provide a supervised and gradual release from prison, says Hannah-Moffat.  "Prison is the most severe sanction we have.  It is an artificial, unpleasant and disempowering institution much different from our society.  Simply opening the door and letting offenders walk out after their sentence does not heighten public safety."

     With the recent release of Karla Homolka, following a 12-year prison sentence for manslaughter, the shortage of resources for female offenders and the stigma associated with ex-offenders has been discussed at length in the media.  According to Hannah-Moffat, females leave custody with different issues than males.  When a female offender is released, she not only has to deal with the stigma of being an ex-offender, which often means difficulty finding a job and adequate housing, but also with problems associated with deviating from prescribed female gender roles.

     Misinformed opinions about the purpose and function of halfway houses taint public perceptions, Hannah-Moffat says.  "Halfway houses do more good for the correctional continuum than bad.  Most people would say they wouldn't want a halfway house in their neighbourhood.  But what's the alternative?  You release offenders directly from prison into society, with no mechanism for reintegration.  And in this case, the same people who don't want a halfway house in their neighbourhood could very well have an unsupervised ex-offender living next door."

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Kelly Hannah-Moffat is a professor and acting chair of the Department of Sociology at UTM, and is also cross-appointed to U of T's Centre of Criminology.  An expert on correctional systems, Hannah-Moffat's research focuses on decision-making procedures and the treatment of women and minorities within the Canadian correctional system.  She worked as a researcher and policy advisor on the Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston and is the former president of the Toronto Elizabeth Fry Society.  Hannah-Moffat has published two books and 26 journal articles. 

Links of interest:

• Kelly Hannah-Moffat's webpage

"Ask the UTM Expert" is a monthly online feature produced by the Office of Advancement at UTM.