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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:15 pm
Time: 8:15 pm
Results for female ex-offenders
1 results foundAuthor: Mc Hugh, Rosemarie Title: Tracking the Needs and Service Provision for Women Ex-Prisoners Summary: This paper presents the findings of research conducted with female prisoners serving short sentences in the Dochas Centre. The research focussed in particular on the needs of this cohort of women upon leaving prison. 16 women were interviewed within the Dochas Centre; the study was primarily a qualitative one which aimed to understand the subjective experiences of the women and communicate their stories by giving primacy to the women's own 'voices'. Findings While each individual woman's story is unique there were significant patterns across the group. The profile of the group and the women's individual recounts of their life histories and experiences demonstrate a high incidence of deprivation, disadvantage, vulnerability and marginalisation. In this study this marginalisation was characterised by some or more of the following - unstable family backgrounds, care outside the home, homelessness, poor schooling, early engagement with the criminal justice system, childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner abuse, other sexual and physical abuse, little or no employment history, substance abuse, inability to care for their children, hospitalisation and treatment units, and significant mental and emotional health needs. The majority of women had little or no formal educational qualifications and little or no histories of employment, with social welfare being the main source of income for the vast majority of women. 14 of the 16 women had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives with the vast majority experiencing repeat incidences of homelessness. 13 of the 16 women had a substance abuse problem at some stage in their lives, often commencing at an early age, with many having long term substance abuse problems. Three quarters of the women had experienced violence or abuse of some form either as a child or as an adult, with three quarters of these, in turn, experiencing repeat victimisation. The women also revealed significant mental and emotional health needs including a high incidence of depression. This study also found that these women demonstrated a resource-poor network. This was demonstrable within the women's stories by the low level of contact with family members and the low volume, frequency and expectation of visits while imprisoned. It was also demonstrable in the lack of knowledge of supports available within the community and the fact that many referred to learning about available services and feeling more supported within the prison. Many of the women had extensive engagement with the criminal justice system from an early age and over a long period of time. However, the majority of crimes were low level addiction related crimes - theft, public order and drug offences. The majority identified themselves primarily as addicts as opposed to offenders and described their offending histories as inherently tied to their addictions, suggesting a sense of control over their offending but not their substance abuse. The culmination of the above means that the needs of the majority of these women, whether in prison or in the community, were multiple, complex and highly intertwined. Thus, their post release needs are extensive and challenging. The study suggests that we may need to reconceptualise what can, or should be, expected in terms of individual desistance from these women, who have been cycling in and out of criminal justice involvement from an early age, often with significant substance abuse problems, high incidences of trauma and victimisation and considerable mental and emotional health needs. It also poses questions, based on the women's own understanding and experiences, as to the adequacy of supports and services available to these women within the community. The findings of this study also align with international research that both the triggers of female offending and the post release needs are extremely different for female offenders compared to that of their male counterparts and further emphasises the need for a gender specific approach. Details: Dublin: Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development, 2013. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 25, 2016 at: http://www.acjrd.ie/files/Tracking_the_needs_and_service_provision_for_women_ex-prisoners_-_Final.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Ireland URL: http://www.acjrd.ie/files/Tracking_the_needs_and_service_provision_for_women_ex-prisoners_-_Final.pdf Shelf Number: 137969 Keywords: Female Ex-OffendersFemale OffendersFemale PrisonersGender Specific ResponsesPrisoner Reentry |