Dr. Shoshana Pollack

Professor, Inside-Out Canada Assistant Coordinator

Contact Information

Email: spollack@wlu.ca
Phone: 519-884-1970 ext.5220

Office Location: FSW-308

Languages Spoken

English

Academic Background

1989     B.A. English Literature, University of Toronto

1993     MSW, Carelton University, Ottawa ON

2000     PhD Social Work, University of Toronto

Biography

I have been in the social work field for over twenty years working as a residential counsellor for sexually abused young women, a sexual abuse therapist in an Aboriginal Community Health Centre, and as therapist at the Kingston Prison for Women. My areas of clinical expertise are women's mental health, the effects of childhood sexual abuse, violence against women, and gender identity and sexual orientation.  I currently maintain a small private practice in Toronto.

I received my certification in Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning from Horse Spirit Connections in Tottenham Ontario. I  provide equine facilitated psychotherapy services and conduct research on the effectivness of this innovative healing modality.

Teaching

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program

In 2012, I initiated a partnership between the Faculty of Social Work and Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener to develop courses through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program.  This is a powerful and innovative integrated learning opportunity that brings MSW students to study together with incarcerated women at Grand Valley Institution. Please see the following articles about FSW Inside-Out courses:

http://www.couragerenewal.org/blog/103-parker-entries/542-deep

http://www.couragerenewal.org/blog/103-parker-entries/596-soul-jodirouah

http://www.thecord.ca/?p=4307

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2011/12/27/women_see_the_other_side.html

Due to the generous support of the Hallman Foundation (http://www.wlu.ca/news_detail.php?grp_id=30&nws_id=9972) the FSW and the Faculty of Arts are currently able to offer several Inside-Out class per year.  For more information about  the International Inside-Out program please see www.insidoutcenter.org.

Courses Taught

In the MSW program I teach Diversity, Marginalization and Oppression, Practice with Individuals, and Differential Use of Self.  In the Doctoral program I teach a core course on Theory Development and various reading courses such as violence against women, anti-racist theory, feminist theory, immigration, women and crime, and governmentality studies.

Research

I conduct qualitative research on women, crime and imprisonment, violence against women, women's mental health, and equine facilitated psychotherapy.  Analytically, my research draws on feminist post structural approaches, anti-racist theory and critical theory.

Additional Information

Selected Publications

Pollack, S. (2012). An Imprisoning Gaze: Practices of Gendered, Racialized and Epistemic Violence International Review of Victimology, published on line June 7, 2012.

Pollack, S. & Rossiter, A. (2010) Neoliberalism and the Entrepreneurial Subject: Implications for Feminism and Social Work. Canadian Social Work Review 27, 2, 155-169.

Pollack, S. (2010) Labeling Clients ‘Risky’: Social Work and the Neo-Liberal Welfare State. British Journal of Social Work 40 (4): 1263-1278.

Pollack, S. & Caragata, L. (2010). Contestation and Accommodation: Constructions of Lone Mothers’ Subjectivity through Workfare Policy and Practice. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work 25 (3):264-277.

Pollack, S. (2009).’You Can't Have it both Ways":  Punishment and Treatment of Imprisoned Women. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 20 (2): 112–128.

Pollack, S. (2009). ‘Circuits of Exclusion’: Criminalized Women’s Negotiation of Community. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 18 (1): 83-95.

Pollack, S. (2007). “I’m Just Not Good in Relationships”: Victimization Discourses and the Gendered Regulation of Criminalized Women. Feminist Criminology 2 (2): 158-174.

Pollack, S. & K. Brezina (2007) Trauma Counseling with Women Prisoners: Feminist Practice in the Prison Context. Women & Therapy, 29 (3/4): 117-133.

Pollack, S. & Kendall, K. (2005) ‘Taming the Shrew’: Mental Health Policy with Women in Canadian Federal Prisons. Critical Criminology: An International Journal, 13(1).

Pollack, S. (2004). Anti-oppressive Practice with Women in Prison: Discursive Reconstructions and Alternative Practices. British Journal of Social Work 34 (5): 693-707.

Pollack, S. (2003). Focus Group Methodology in Research with Incarcerated Women: Race, Power, and Collective Experience. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 18 (4): 461-472.