This analysis of Canada’s federal parole system reveals how fundamental change is needed to address gender, race, and cultural differences within the penal system.

Just as Canada’s population has changed in the past four decades, so too has its prison population. The increasing diversity among prisoners raises important questions about how we punish those who break the law. Parole in Canada is the first book to explore how concerns about Aboriginality, gender, and the multicultural ideal of “diversity” have been interpreted and used to alter federal parole policy and practice.

Using the Parole of Board of Canada as a case study, this book shows how certain facets of offender differences are selectively included for “accommodation,” while fundamental institutional structures, practices, and power arrangements remain unchanged. Sarah Turnbull argues that, as the current approach fails to challenge outdated notions about gender, race, and aboriginality within the penal system, instead of addressing concerns around diversity, these measures end up contributing to further exclusion and discrimination within the system.

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Sarah Turnbull’s book is an important and timely qualitative addition to the field of law and justice ... Turnbull masterfully explains the intersections between the Canadian federal parole system and race, gender, Aboriginal status and identity without oversimplifying this complex issue. Parole in Canada is a highly accessible text that should find its way into every law, social justice and multiculturalism course.