Fiona Marshall Young

Topic

Creating Conditions for Change: A Realist Synthesis to Inform Women's Reintegration Programming in British Columbia

School of Public Administration

Date & location

• Friday, August 7, 2026
• 11:00 A.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Walter Lepore, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Prof. Robert Lapper, School of Public Administration, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Alana Abramson, Department of Criminology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Tetjana Ross, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, UVic

Abstract

This thesis examines how community-based reintegration programs may support justice involved women following release from custody, with a view to informing reintegration policy and practice in British Columbia. Despite high rates of reincarceration among women following release in BC, existing research offers limited insight into how, why, and for whom reintegration interventions work, relying largely on risk-based frameworks developed for male populations. Drawing on realist synthesis methodology, the study develops an initial program theory from foundational literature and refines it through the synthesis of context-mechanism-outcome configurations drawn from Canadian and comparable jurisdictions. This approach moves beyond questions of effectiveness to examine how, why, and under what circumstances reintegration interventions may generate meaningful outcomes for women.

The synthesis suggests that reintegration may be shaped by five interrelated processes: safety, stability, capacity development, relational recognition, and community participation. These processes appear to operate within broader enabling conditions of continuity and flexibility that help sustain engagement and support change over time. The findings further suggest that reintegration is better understood as a recursive rather than linear process, in which setbacks such as relapse, housing instability, and social withdrawal may contribute to either disengagement or re-engagement depending on whether supports are experienced as safe, accessible, and responsive. Outcomes appear to vary according to intersecting contextual factors including stage of reintegration, level of need, trauma and victimization experiences, relational assets, exposure to colonial harms, and geography. 

Building on Desistance Theory and the Reintegration Readiness Framework, this thesis offers a preliminary, context-sensitive explanation of how reintegration interventions may facilitate change for women following release from custody. The findings suggest that readiness is not a fixed individual attribute but an ongoing process shaped through interactions between women and their support environments, highlighting the importance of flexible and responsive supports rather than one-size-fits-all interventions. The resulting program theory provides a foundation for future testing and refinement while offering evidence-informed guidance for gender-responsive, culturally safe, and context-sensitive reintegration policy and practice in British Columbia.