Background information
With the increased women population in the correctional facilities, various engaging activities have been introduced as part of the rehabilitation process. A wide range of recreational programs has been introduced in the correctional facilities in order to maintain a healthy social life for those who are incarcerated. Women in correctional facilities are women who end up in prisons following cases of injustice or crime cases ending up in prison under incarceration punishment. For women in the federal prison system, a healthy lifestyle is recommended during the rehabilitation process. In return, recreation opportunities have been integrated into most of the correctional facilities raising different impacts as well. Recreation and leisure activities in the federal prison system of Canada have been suggested as treatment approaches towards alleviated boredom in the prisons and reduction of stress among women in the incarcerations (Norman, 2017). In most cases, women tend to suffer aggression among other stresses following reasons behind their imprisonment. Therefore, the introduction of recreational activities for women in correctional facilities has both benefits and constraints based on the impact on the social life and the federal prison system at large.
Recreation Benefits
In the federal prison system of Canada, recreational activities have been integrated into various correctional facilities. Women in the correctional facilities benefit from recreational and leisure activities, which mainly involve participation in sports. Through participating in sporting activities, women tend to reduce the stress and tension that usually affects them upon incarceration. Earlier, women's incarceration was identified as inhumane following the impacts it had on their mental health. Women in jail tend to suffer serious psychological distress raising mental health disorders. In return, engaging activities had to be formulated in order to keep women engaged. Apart from reducing stress, leisure sporting activities help women to maintain healthy standards through exercises involved in recreational activities (Ricciardelli & Sit, 2016).
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Engaging in physical activities and sports reduce boredom for women in their daily life in prison. Recent statistics from the federal prison system records a rising population of women in prison. As a consequence, the population rise has raised women’s interest in sports among other physical activities hence changing the prison lifestyle that was characterized by mental and physical stress (Frey & Delaney, 1996). Moreover, recreational activities tend to improve women's self-esteem during the rehabilitation period. The acts committed by women to end up in the prisons tend to lower their self-esteem and develop negativity about life. However, engaging in sports and physical activities improves their self-esteem (Gallant et. al, 2015). For instance, when women win awards during sporting activities, their self-esteem improves.
Moreover, women learn various sport rules and different games that become helpful after the incarceration period. For instance, recreational activities encapsulate artistic works and games such as music, athletics, and football among other leisure activities. Therefore, some women develop skills that are useful after the imprisonment period is over. In return, they can join artistic clubs and earn a living from skills sharpened in prison (Norman, 2017).
Additional benefits include the improvement of positive socialization skills. The federal prison system accommodates women from diverse cultures, races, ages, and other demographic characteristics. Through engaging in different recreational activities, women get chances of interacting with fellow inmates. As a result, they develop a healthy social life in prisons, which is a recommendable step in the rehabilitation process. In return, women in correctional facilities channel the negative feelings of anxiety and tension into positive attitudes hence becoming productive (Ricciardelli & Sit, 2016). Furthermore, through socializing women in prison tend to foster interpersonal skills, develop problem-solving skills and develop new interests that make their life in prison easier and healthy.
Recreational constraints
Despite numerous benefits induced by recreational activities in the federal prison system, these activities might attract the following constraints in the correctional facilities. First, during recreational activities, incarcerated women are under minimal supervision. This case might attract different negatives including cases of violence among women. Although the main aim is to build a healthy social life among them, cases of violence might occur affecting them. In addition, most recreational activities are prone to disagreements that might attract cases of violence due to poor coaching.
Additionally, leisure activities integrated into the correctional facilities can facilitate cases of laziness among incarcerated women posing a challenge in their social life after prison. For instance, some prisons in Canada consider watching television as a leisure activity. When women get used to watching television, they tend to develop a habit that induces laziness hence affecting their physical participation in different activities. Also, some leisure activities are making prison become comfortable prior to the main purpose to rehabilitate inmates and build a positive mindset for them (Norman, 2017).
Furthermore, correctional facilities accommodate women who have committed different crimes including robbery, murder, and assaults among other crimes. When they get to interact during recreational activities they might share crime tactics with inmates with short imprisonment periods. In return, it can be a threat to more crimes in society from individuals who have been through the federal prison system (Lehmann, 2017). Therefore, this argument can be considered as a recreational constraint standing against the benefits of recreational activities in the correctional facilities.
Nevertheless, despite the recreational constraints, advantages obtained from the Canadian federal prison system support the need for recreational and leisure activities in correctional facilities especially for better mental health, improved self-esteem among incarcerated women, positive socialization skills and reduced idleness among other benefits (Bryson & Groves, 1989). Therefore, recreational activities need to be maintained in federal prison systems for the benefit of inmates and healthy social life in prisons.
References
Bryson, J. S., & Groves, D. L. (1989). Correctional recreation and the self-esteem of prison inmates. Psychology and Human Development: an international journal , 2 (2), 89-100.
Frey, J. H., & Delaney, T. (1996). The role of leisure participation in prison: A report from consumers. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation , 23 (1-2), 79-89.
Gallant, D., Sherry, E., & Nicholson, M. (2015). Recreation or rehabilitation? Managing sport for development programs with prison populations. Sport management review , 18 (1), 45-56.
Lehmann, V. (2017). The prison library: A vital link to education, rehabilitation, and recreation. Education Libraries , 24 (1), 5-10.
Norman, M. (2017). Sport in the under life of a total institution: Social control and resistance in Canadian prisons. International Review for the sociology of sport , 52 (5), 598-614.
Ricciardelli, R., & Sit, V. (2016). Producing social (dis) order in prison: The effects of administrative controls on prisoner-on-prisoner violence. The Prison Journal , 96 (2), 210-231.
