Moving Beyond Reform: Evaluating Gender-Responsive Programming Using Tools to Create Institutional Change

• In Event: Partnering for Change: Community Engaged Research with Women and the Criminal Legal System

Abstract

Community-engaged research with system-involved women presents both an opportunity and a challenge for researchers committed to abolitionist goals. While gender-responsive (GR) programming is often framed as a progressive reform within the criminal justice system, its implementation can reinforce carceral paternalism and control. This presentation draws on a case study of a community corrections organization working to evaluate and implement GR programming. Through a participatory action research (PAR) approach, this study engaged staff, current and former clients, and community organizations through interviews, institutional data analysis, and field research to identify programmatic gaps and guide implementation efforts. This paper highlights key findings from the research as well as parallel programmatic changes. More broadly, it examines how researchers can work within and alongside institutions to ensure that gender-responsive initiatives truly serve system-involved women rather than reinforcing punitive control. By leveraging community-engaged research, this work demonstrates how scholars can push institutions toward harm reduction and more transformative change.

Authors

• Anne Uhlman, Colorado State University

• Tara Opsal, Colorado State University