What Works with Women Offenders


Book Description

The increase in women's imprisonment is very much an international phenomenon. A particular concern of this book is to identify and develop alternative responses.




Working with Women Offenders in the Community


Book Description

Though many more women offenders are supervised in the community than in custody, much less is known about their needs and effective approaches to their supervision, support and treatment. Whilst there has been recent attention paid to responding to the needs of women in prison, negligible attention has been paid to women exiting prison, or on community based orders, and what is needed to work with them to reduce re-offending or entry into prison. Contributions to this book challenge policy-makers and corrections systems to concentrate more on community provision for women offenders and resist popular calls for more punitive responses to all offenders, women included. Contributors come from a wide range of countries including Australia, Canada, UK and USA. They argue that the criminogenic lens applied to women’s offending must be gender-responsive if systems are to be successful at addressing the disadvantage and risk associated with offending behaviour. Working With Women Offenders in the Community builds on ideas presented in the editors’ previous book, What Works With Women Offenders (2007), extending the focus particularly on women offenders in the community rather than in prison. This book concentrates on women who have committed criminal offences and who may have been placed on probation or other community based court orders or who have been released from prison on parole. It discusses the work done by professional workers including probation officers, community corrections officers and specialist case managers in areas such as drug treatment, housing, mental health or employment programmes. This book will be of interest to professional probation officers, case managers, drug treatment workers and others who work with women offenders. It will also be essential reading for students of criminology, social work, psychology, sociology and other disciplines who have an interest in women offenders.




Working with Female Offenders


Book Description

Praise for Working with Female Offenders "Encyclopedic in scope and full of very relevant work drawn from the fields of biology, psychology, criminology, and corrections, this book is a must-read for those working with girl and women offenders." —Meda Chesney-Lind, Professor, Women's Studies University of Hawaii at Manoa "In this timely and thoughtful book, van Wormer provides a gender-sensitive lens through which the reader can examine pathways to female criminality, a global perspective on female crime and punishment, and innovative treatment approaches. This book is a must-have for any student or professional who wishes to truly impact and empower the lives of female offenders." —David W. Springer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Social Work The University of Texas at Austin "This book is timely in light of promising developments that are taking place at every level of the criminal justice system. It is a must-read for policymakers, practitioners, academics, and students in criminal justice, social work, and other related fields." —Barbara E. Bloom, Professor, Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies Sonoma State University, California The first book to combine elements from the social work, counseling, and crimi- nology fields to create a framework tailored to working with female offenders Taking into account the special needs of girls and women within a system designed by men for male offenders, Working with Female Offenders offers counselors, correctional officers, lawyers, probation officers—in short, anyone who works in some capacity with female offenders–an evidence-based, gentler approach for working effectively and successfully with girls and women in trouble with the law. Working with Female Offenders provides coverage devoted to the nature of female crime and to the institutional settings in which much of the female-specific programming is designed to take place. This timely volume equips professionals with proven counseling strategies tailored to fit this population. Practical guidelines are included for case management interventions, teaching skills of communication and assertiveness, and anger and stress management for female offender populations, as well as: A strengths/empowerment/restorative framework for counseling women in crisis Narratives from personal interviews with female offenders and correctional counselors Discussion of controversial topics such as prison homosexuality, AIDS in prison, girls in gangs, and women on death row Examples of successful, innovative programs for female offenders from the United States and abroad Working with Female Offenders addresses the unique challenges of female offenders and those who treat them, and provides a much needed addition to the literature on innovative programming for female offenders.




Women who Offend


Book Description

Presenting research that will underpin effective practice with women who offend, this unique and thought-provoking text aims to help professionals meet the needs of this group as well as providing a theoretical resource for policy makers and academics. The authors, coming from a variety of professional and research perspectives, discuss important issues concerning women in the criminal justice system, including: * the increase in custodial sentences for women * black women in prison * patterns of female offending * drug use and the criminal justice system * the needs of women on release from prison. Calling into question the relevance to female offenders of research conducted with men who commit crime, the contributors provide a comprehensive knowledge base on women and crime for professionals who work in this area. With a broad range of contributions, this book will be helpful to probation officers, social workers, policy makers and others who work with female offenders.




Women on Probation and Parole


Book Description

The first in-depth comparative look at gender-responsive versus traditional probation and parole for women




Female Offenders and Reentry


Book Description

Often, research concerning the female offender is scarce. This book adds to the criminological literature on the topic of reentry for women, focusing on the barriers women face as they return to society and adjust to life after incarceration. Each chapter addresses specific issues, challenges, and obstacles affiliated with the hindrance of successful reentry processes associated with female offenders, as well as data-driven empirical studies. While corrections has often misunderstood or overlooked the needs of returning offenders, the shortcomings of the institutions have a greater impact on women than on their male counterparts, particularly regarding the occurrence of social and medical problems, especially those related to mental health and substance abuse. Female Offenders and Reentry helps criminal justice students and practitioners see the full picture when considering the challenges faced by female offenders reintegrating into society.




Coercion and Women Co-offenders


Book Description

This is the first book to study the role coercion plays as a pathway into crime for women who are arrested alongside other defendants. Drawing on court files and newspaper accounts, it analyzes four cases of women who were arrested alongside a partner and who argued in their defense that they had been coerced. Charlotte Barlow examines these cases from a feminist perspective that allows her to highlight the importance of gender expectations and gendered discourse in both the trials themselves and the way the media covered them.




The Changing Roles of Women in the Criminal Justice System


Book Description

Like Philip Stratford's All the Polarities, which compares novels in French and English Canada, A Tale of Two Countries undertakes a crosscultural comparison, examining Canadian and American novels. One of the first studies of Canadian literature in a continental context, the book's critical standpoint and polemical tone are likely to inspire further readings in Canadian–American literary relations. Among the authors dealt with are Robert Kroetsch, Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, William Grass, and Robert Coover.




Community Penalties


Book Description

Community penalties are punishments that, in the courts' sentencing tariff, come between imprisonment and fines. They include electronic tagging, supervised unpaid work, and compulsory participation by offenders in treatment programmes. Recent years have seen many changes in England in the field of community penalties. These have included the rapid development of accredited offending behaviour programmes, and some new court orders such as the Referral Order for juveniles, based on the principles of restorative justice. Organisationally, too, the year 2001 sees a major change with the establishment of the National Probation Service for England and Wales. Community Penalties: change and challenges addresses the key issues facing community penalties at this critical time. Topics covered include the recent history of community penalties, partnership work, cognitive behavioural approaches to changing offenders' behaviour (and the need to look beyond these), compliance theory, accountability to the public and to the victim, accommodating difference and diversity in the delivery of community penalties, the use of technology in community penalties, and community penalties and issues of public safety. Community Penalties: change and challenges brings together many leading authors in this field. Together, they provide an authoritative review of a vital field of public policy.




Perceptions of Female Offenders


Book Description

​Female offenders are often perceived as victims who commit crimes as a self-defense mechanism or as criminal deviants whose actions strayed from typical ‘womanly’ behavior. Such cultural norms for violence exist in our gendered society and there has been scholarly debate about how male and female offenders are perceived and how this perception leads to differential treatment in the criminal justice system. This debate is primarily based upon theories associated with stereotypes and social norms and how these prescriptive norms can influence both public and criminal justice response. Scholars in psychology, sociology, and criminology have found that female offenders are perceived differently than male offenders and this ultimately leads to differential treatment in the criminal justice system. This interdisciplinary book provides an evidence based approach of how female offenders are perceived in society and how this translates to differential treatment within the criminal justice system and explores the ramifications of such differences. Quite often perceptions of female offenders are at odds with research findings. This book will provide a comprehensive evidence-based review of the research that is valuable to laypersons, researchers, practitioners, advocates, treatment providers, lawyers, judges, and anyone interested in equality in the criminal justice system. ​