The Failure of Ganhua Education: Revisiting Relational-Cultural Theory in China's Female Prisons.

Ganhua education has been viewed by some scholars as holding a critical position in the correctional system of the People's Republic of China (PRC), for achieving its primary target of imprisonment: rehabilitation. This article aims to redress this argument. Drawing on interviews undertaken with 30 female parolees/ex-prisoners and 10 prison officers, this article argues that the Ganhua education in prison, which is strongly imprinted with the key concept of Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) that "connection promotes growth," is ineffective and is unable to empower women to grow, change, and consequently open to rehabilitation at selected female prisons. This article suggests that the RCT is theoretically problematic in producing a "new person," for the reason of its unawareness of contextualized culture, values, and situations in prison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]