Sticking Points: Incarcerated Women’s Perceptions of a Prison Needle Exchange Program in One Canadian Prison

• In Event: Convict Criminology Panel #1: “Prison Experiences and Health”

Abstract

While prison needle exchange programs (PNEPs) have existed in different parts of the world since the 1990s, little is known about how currently incarcerated people perceive them—particularly in Canada, where such programs have only recently emerged. This study explores incarcerated women’s varied perceptions of a recently implemented PNEP.
Methods: In-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 56 federally incarcerated women in Western Canada. Most participants held negative views towards the PNEP and did not support its implementation. These negative views included the perception that the PNEP acts as an obstacle to sobriety and could increase different types of harm—including encouraging intravenous drug use—within the prison. Participants also identified barriers to using the PNEP, including a perceived lack of confidentiality/anonymity for users of the program and that the PNEP itself is structurally incompatible with the operations of a prison system that continues to criminalize drugs. Our results suggest that the current program is misaligned with the needs and concerns identified by participants in our sample. To encourage more positive views of the PNEP amongst incarcerated women, considerable changes to the program are necessary, including significant consultations with incarcerated people about the operation of such programs.

Authors

• Lorielle Giffin, University of Alberta

• Luca Berardi, McMaster University

• Kevin Haggerty, University of Alberta

• Sandra Bucerius, University of Alberta