As a documentary filmmaker specialized in themes such as transformation and habilitation of violent criminals, the author has recognized that in mainstream correction and medical models the most crucial problem is the fixed roles of inmate/officer or patient/doctor based on their hierarchical nature. Supporting the basic principle of "TOJISYASYUKEN" (person-with-needs centered and empowerment approach) by Chizuko Ueno and Masashi Nakanishi, this paper examines an Australian alternative model for incarcerated women which takes an artistic form. Somebody's Daughter Theater Company (SDT) is a professional drama and arts group which works with women while in prison and after release in Victoria, Australia. Among criminal population, women inmates are often found most marginalized and victimized, yet their voices are hardly heard in correctional settings. SDT, on the other hand, has been serving effectively over 25 years to spotlight and mirror these women's suppressed voices inside the walls by having inmate-centered workshops and performances both inside and outside of the prisons. What makes SDT extraordinary and dynamic is its philosophy and approach based on a humanistic and artistic principle- "art is the true equal meeting ground for all-transcending difference of class, money and power" and this is clearly different from mainstream correction and medical approaches. Here, incarcerated women are treated as professional artists rather than "prisoners" and the process of creating arts and drama itself is an empowement of these women. By the author's close observation over the performance and art exhibition in July 2005 at Dame Phyllis Frost Center, one of the women's prisons in Victoria, along with interviews of several SDT members, this paper demonstrates the significance and possibility of non-correctional and non-medical approach.
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編集者: Bcxfubot