CJ presents: "Influencing Offenders: Legitimacy, Inmates & Correctional Staff"

Wed. Oct. 28 12:30 PM - Wed. Oct. 28 01:30 PM
Contact: Dr. Kevin Walby k.walby@uwinnipeg.ca 204.786.9105
Location: Room 3D04

The Department of Criminal Justice presents Dr. Michael Weinrath: "Influencing Offenders: Legitimacy, Inmates & Correctional Staff." Using Goffman’s frame theory, Dr. Weinrath describes the shift in communication styles and their implications for institutional life. Against the backdrop of contemporary theories of procedural justice and legitimacy, he evaluates if and how these changes have moved Canadian corrections towards more just and effective professional practice.

The two principal players in prison are the inmates and correctional officers. At one time subcultures dictated that these groups did not talk to each other. During the past thirty years significant changes have occurred within Canada’s prisons and the rules around communication have softened. "Direct" and "dynamic supervision" officer styles have supposedly changed correctional strategies of working with prisoners. But has it? Dr. Michael Weinrath has studied this change through interviews with 37 inmates and 24 staff in four Western Canadian prisons.

Dr. Michael Weinrath is a former corrections practitioner and professor of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg. He has researched extensively in the area of institutional and community corrections, conducting both quantitative and qualitative studies. His research is forthcoming in 2016 as a book, Prison Life in Canada, Problems & Prospects.