Journal ArticleDOI
Women Offenders and the Gendered Effects of Public Policy1
TLDR
In this paper, the authors argue that public policy has ignored the context of women's lives and that women offenders have disproportionately suffered from the impact of ill-informed public policy, and that addressing the differences between women and men in criminal behavior and to their antecedents is critical to gender-responsive policy.Abstract:
At 17%, women represent a significant proportion of all offenders under criminal justice supervision in the US. Drawing on the findings from their report, “Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and Guiding Principles for Women Offenders,” the authors maintain that public policy has ignored the context of women's lives and that women offenders have disproportionately suffered from the impact of ill-informed public policy. This discussion of the implications of gender within the criminal justice system is based on a simple assumption: responding to the differences between women and men in criminal behavior and to their antecedents is critical to gender-responsive policy. Building on the pathway theoretical perspective, we find that in addition to the gendered impact of the war on drugs, policy changes in welfare reform, housing, and other social policy arenas combine to create a disparate impact on drug abusing women and women of color. Key policy areas affecting the lives of women offenders and their children include welfare benefits, drug treatment, housing, education, employment, and reunification with children. We conclude that addressing the realities of women's lives through gender-responsive policy and programs is fundamental to improved outcomes at all criminal justice phases. A blueprint for gender-responsive policy development is described through six guiding principles and their policy implications.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Women’s Risk Factors and Their Contributions to Existing Risk/Needs Assessment: The Current Status of a Gender-Responsive Supplement
TL;DR: In this paper, a series of gender-responsive assessment models were tested for their contributions to widely used gender-neutral risk needs assessments, and subsets of the genderresponsive scales achieved statistically significant contributions to gender neutral models, including parental stress, family support, self-efficacy, educational assets, housing safety, anger/hostility, and current mental health factors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Childhood trauma and women's health outcomes in a California prison population.
Nena Messina,Christine E. Grella +1 more
TL;DR: There is a need for early prevention and intervention, and appropriate trauma treatment, within correctional treatment settings, for incarcerated women in substance abuse treatment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Assessing Recidivism Risk Across Female Pathways to Crime
TL;DR: The Level of Supervision Inventory-Revised (LSI•R) as mentioned in this paper is used to classify offenders as high, medium, and low recidivism risks. But the LSI•R has been criticised by some researchers.
Journal ArticleDOI
A randomized experimental study of gender-responsive substance abuse treatment for women in prison
TL;DR: Findings show the beneficial effects of treatment components oriented toward women's needs and support the integration of GRT in prison programs for women.
Journal ArticleDOI
Associations among childhood trauma, adolescent problem behaviors, and adverse adult outcomes in substance-abusing women offenders.
TL;DR: Latent variable structural equation models revealed direct relationships between several childhood traumatic events and greater adolescent conduct problems and substance abuse and the need to provide trauma-related services for substance-abusing women offenders.
References
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Book
The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime, and Justice
TL;DR: In this article, women and the criminal justice system with a focus on three major areas: (1) female offenders and their treatment by criminal justice systems; (2) female victims of crime; and (3) female employees of the agencies of the criminal system.
BookDOI
The female offender girls, women, and crime
Meda Chesney-Lind,Lisa Pasko +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, Laidler et al. discuss the nature and causes of women's crime and the nature of the pathways to women's criminal behavior, including domestic violence, drugs, prostitution, and gang membership.
Book
In the Mix: Struggle and Survival in a Women's Prison
TL;DR: Barbara Owen's "In the Mix: Struggle and Survival in a Women's Prison" as discussed by the authors is a rich compilation of accounts and experiences in the lives of women at the largest prison for women, the Central California Women's Facility (CCWF).
Journal ArticleDOI
Women in Prison: Approaches in the Treatment of Our Most Invisible Population
TL;DR: This article presented a relational model of treatment which incorporates the multiple issues in women's recovery and is based on the integration of three theoretical perspectives -addiction, trauma and women's psychological development.