Professor Candace Kruttschnitt is the latest Sociology Professor at the University of Toronto to become a fellow at the Royal Society of Canada. The Royal Society is, according to its mandate, "Canada’s National Academy, the senior collegium of distinguished scholars, artists and scientists in the country." It seeks to "promote learning and research in the arts, the humanities and the natural and social sciences." Professor Kruttchnitt is the Department's third faculty member to become a fellow of the RSC, following Monica Boyd who also served as President of the RSC Social Sciences division, and Professor Robert Brym.
Earlier this year, U of T News wrote an article highlighting Professor Kruttschnitt's achievement along with that of Professor George Dei at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
We have posted an excerpt of the article in U of T News which was originally posted on the U of T News site on September 7, 2017 written by Jennifer Robinson. The full article is available here.
...Sociology Professor Candace Kruttschnitt (pictured left) is also thrilled to be joining the 133-year-old society, which is made up of the senior collegium of distinguished scholars, artists and scientists in the country.
“It’s totally an honour and unexpected – completely,” she said with a laugh. “To be recognized for your work any time is wonderful.”
Since the 1990s, Kruttschnitt has studied the incarceration of women by speaking with hundreds of inmates in the United States, England and the Netherlands, with surprising results.
Contrary to common perceptions, the risk factors for a pathway to prison are comparable for men and women. For example, male and female inmates identified as multi-problem property offenders commonly had mental health issues, substance abuse problems, substantial debts and were unemployed.
Both sexes in the multi-problem violent offenders category also shared a history having parents with “parental deviance,” with drug and alcohol abuse and their own brushes with the law. The parents started committing crimes before the age of 18, had debt and also were substance abusers.
“This is a controversial subject because many scholars and policy-makers believe we need a gendered approach to programming in prisons,” Kruttschnitt said, adding that if she was facing imprisonment anywhere in the world the Netherlands “would be the place for me. They’re just wonderful. It’s the most advanced place I’ve ever seen” in their treatment of inmates...