Retorts, Runaways and Riots: Patterns of Resistance in Canadian Reform Schools for Girls, 1930-60

Myers, Tamara; Sangster, Joan

doi:10.1353/jsh.2001.0025

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…And, as a result, there is quite some literature about the methodologies of overcoming or circumventing what has been called 'the institutional gaze'. 13 Most of these methodological reflections build on one premise: the personal case file is a source that is 'mined' for data. But, following Ann Laura Stoler's argument about colonial history, we believe that historians should consider the archives not solely as sources, but as subjects in their own right.…”

Section: Studying the Observation Report: From Source To Objectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Folded Files, Unfolding Narratives: Psycho-Pedagogical Observation in the Belgian Juvenile Reformatories, 1912–1945.

Ruyskensvelde

Nys

2020

History of Education

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The establishment of the Central Observation Institute in Mol in 1913 marks the introduction of scientific expertise in Belgium's youth delinquency policy. The child at risk was subjected to a series of observations, resulting in an observation report ('waarnemingsverslag') that contained the psychological, moral and physical characteristics of the delinquent child, and suggested strategies for its re-education. This article puts central the technologies of observation in the first half of the 20 th century. In contrast to earlier research, we use the observation report not as a 'key to the past' but we aim to historicize the observation report in its own right. Using M'charek's concept 'folded object', we discuss the process of truth establishing in the observation report, therein paying attention to the various actors at work in the reformatory and examining the dynamic relationships between the observation and educational institutions in the production and use of the observation files.

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Section: Studying the Observation Report: From Source To Objectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Folded Files, Unfolding Narratives: Psycho-Pedagogical Observation in the Belgian Juvenile Reformatories, 1912–1945.

Ruyskensvelde

Nys

2020

History of Education

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“…Incarcerated women did not always share these lofty goals and resisting incarceration was a more common approach to the injustice of the justice system than officials liked to admit. As Myers and Sangster (2001) note, incarcerated women employed a wide range of resistant strategies, from insolence and refusal to work, to destruction of prison cells and violations of institutional rules, to outright rebellion and running away. Most acts of resistance were passive, in that they avoided direct confrontation with authority, but it was not uncommon for incarcerated women to engage in head-on clashes with their keepers (ibid.).…”

Section: Incarcerating the Modern Girlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To be attentive to the dynamics of agency and resistance in women’s crime experiences, however, is not to be dismissive of the power of the state to exercise its own power to shape events. As Myers and Sangster have noted in their analysis of young women’s resistance to reform school in mid-twentieth-century Canada, ‘girls’ resistance rarely succeeded in securing either the attention, freedom or the justice in life they craved’ (Myers and Sangster, 2001: 688). While Prouse, Carroll, and McVinn gained attention, what public sympathy they were able to generate as a result did not greatly aid them and they were ultimately sentenced to the Kingston Penitentiary on a charge of manslaughter.…”

Section: Women Violence and Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Did the women plan the escape, thus rendering the unfortunate death of Mrs Mick a casualty of their machinations, or was it a ‘spur of the moment’ decision, as the trio insisted it was? 32 Gladys Palmer told the coroner’s inquest that the women had spoken to each other in Pig Latin, a piece of evidence that implied the women participated in the ‘forg[ing] of a [resistant] counter culture’ that authorities feared (Myers and Sangster, 2001: 677). Yet, testimony given to the inquest by the women themselves suggested that, once McVinn had freed herself, Carroll and Prouse had had to be talked into escaping with her, which suggested there had been no collective forethought after all.…”

Section: Saucy and Sorry: Making Sense Of Defiancementioning

confidence: 99%

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‘An avalanche of tragedy’: Modern girls and the murder of Mrs Mick

Glasbeek

2012

International Review of Victimology

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On 24 May 1925, three young women incarcerated at the Concord Industrial Jail Farm for Women (near Toronto, Ontario) wrestled the night matron, Mrs Mick, to the ground, tied her down, took her keys and escaped from prison. Tragically, Mrs Mick suffered a stroke and died while chained to the prison washbasins. Upon their capture, the two 16-year-olds and one 19-year-old were charged with murder in a case that would capture the attention of the local press and hold it for weeks. This article analyses this case as an exemplary instance of the distinctly gendered world of criminal offending. Characterized as 'an avalanche of tragedy' by the local press, the death of Mrs Mick offers historical testimony to the complexity of women's entanglements with the criminal justice system and to the relationship between women's violence and their victimization as criminalized subjects.On the evening of 24 May 1925, three young white women incarcerated at the Concord Industrial Jail Farm for Women (located just outside of Toronto, Ontario) called Mrs Margaret Mick, the night matron, into the detention ward. There they wrestled her to the ground and, apologizing for their actions, tied her to the water pipes, placed a pillow under her head, kissed her on the cheek, and left a glass of water nearby. They then took her keys and escaped from prison. Tragically, the abandoned Mrs Mick suffered a stroke and died an undignified death sprawled beneath the prison washbasins. Upon their capture two days later, 16-year-old Jennie McVinn, 16-year-old Bessie Carroll, and 19-year-old Isabel Prouse 1 were charged with murder.

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“…Although the Victorian and Progressive eras have passed, patterns that reflect similar gendered values continue (Belknap, 2001;Belknap & Holsinger, 1998;Bishop & Frazier, 1995;Chesney-Lind, 1973, 1997Chesney-Lind & Shelden, 1998;Datesman & Scarpetti, 1980;Feld, 1999;Myers & Sangster, 2001;Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Many critics assert that a double standard of case processing exists for girls.…”

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confidence: 99%

Gender and Runaways

Kempf‐Leonard

Johansson²

2007

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice

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Runaway is a status offense for which there is concern that youths, particularly girls, are vulnerable to the “evils of the streets.” Prior research suggests that many personal and family risks of runaway are gendered, that the streets may be meaner, and that the strategies for survival disproportionately serve to criminalize girls. Moreover, patriarchial values may make the juvenile justice response to runaway girls overly harsh “for their own good.” Unfortunately, research has been hampered by small or biased samples. This study examines many risk factors to discern patterns and gender differences among runaway youths for whom there is a status offense charged. Many charged runaway youths are followed to determine the nature of official responses and whether responses appear gendered. The findings have implications for changes in how officials respond to runaway youths, both in terms of what will better serve the youths' best interests and for improving public safety.

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Retorts, Runaways and Riots: Patterns of Resistance in Canadian Reform Schools for Girls, 1930-60

Cited by 20 publications

References 28 publications

Folded Files, Unfolding Narratives: Psycho-Pedagogical Observation in the Belgian Juvenile Reformatories, 1912–1945.

Folded Files, Unfolding Narratives: Psycho-Pedagogical Observation in the Belgian Juvenile Reformatories, 1912–1945.

‘An avalanche of tragedy’: Modern girls and the murder of Mrs Mick

Gender and Runaways

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