Gender and reentry: investigating co-educational practices in a jail-based residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) setting

Abstract

This thesis investigates men’s and women’s experiences within a co-educational, jail-based, residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) program. Using a qualitative research design, this research examined secondary, semi-structured interviews with individuals experiencing incarceration from a Colorado residential substance abuse treatment program to understand how gender impacts participants’ experiences in the program. This research aims to explain how heteronormative views reinforced by the jail determine the experiences of individuals within an RSAT program. Through this approach, this study explores themes such as the benefits of the co-educational environment, the replication of a community-based treatment environment within a jail, as well as participants’ experiences of gender segregation and gender inequality. Participants expressed having positive experiences when they could replicate their lives prior to incarceration in environments that include a work program outside of the jail, having positive interactions with their fellow participants regardless of gender, and having positive experiences with the program staff. Participants expressed having negative experiences when they experienced gender segregation and gender inequality which included issues surrounding the division of genders, unequal privileges, lack of co-gender environments, and issues surrounding feminine hygiene. Overall, these findings reveal that participants feel dehumanized within the program and that there is a need to identify and adjust the program in a way that would create more engaging experiences for individuals within the program