Synopses & Reviews
Scholarship in criminology over the last few decades has often left little room for research and theory on how female offenders are perceived and handled in the criminal justice system. In truth, one out of every four juveniles arrested is female and the population of women in prison has tripled in the past decade. Co-authored by Meda Chesney-Lind, one of the pioneers in the development of the feminist theoretical perspective in criminology, the subject matter of The Female Offender: Girls, Women and Crime, Third Edition redresses the balance by providing critical insight into these issues. In an engaging style, authors Meda Chesney-Lind and Lisa Pasko explore gender and cultural factors in women s lives that often precede criminal behavior and address the question of whether female offenders are more violent today than in the past. The authors provide a revealing look at how public discomfort with the idea of women as criminals significantly impacts the treatment received by this offender population.
Synopsis
Following the deaths of six female inmates, the UK Home Office commissioned the 2007 Corston Report, a parliamentary investigation into the state of vulnerable women in the British criminal justice system. This insightful book explores developments since the report’s publication, revealing that while some of its recommendations were accepted by government, actual policy has restricted the scale and scope of change. Investigating a broad range of services for women offenders, contributors consider the question of whether women should be treated differently in the criminal justice system and offer possible future policy directions drawn from the Coalition Government’s 2013 Transforming Rehabilitation agenda. This timely analysis will be an important resource for policy makers, service providers, and practitioners alike.
About the Author
Jo Brayford is a senior lecturer in criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Wales.Jill Annison is associate professor of criminal justice studies at Plymouth University.John Deering is a senior lecturer in criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Wales. He is a coeditor of What Else Works: Creative Work with Offenders and Sex Offenders: Punish, Help, Change or Control?.
Table of Contents
Corston and beyond - Jill Annison & Jo Brayford
Section One: Context
Transforming Rehabilitation: implications for women - Jill Annison, Jo Brayford & John Deering
The context: women as law-breakers - Loraine Gelsthorpe and Serena Wright
A comparison: criminalised women in Scotland - Michele Burman, Margaret Malloch and Gill McIvor
Section Two: Reviews of current practice
Probation practice with women offenders in Wales - Kate Asher and Jill Annison
Youth justice practice with girls - Becky Shepherd
Women’s Centres - Leeanne Plechowicz
Older Women Prisoners and ‘The Rubies’ Project - Jill Annison and Alma Hageman
Gendered dynamics of mentoring - Gillian Buck, Mary Corcoran and Anne Worrall
Section Three: Towards best practice
Breaking the cycle for women through equality not difference - Martina Feilzer & Kate Williams
‘A very high price to pay?’: Transforming Rehabilitation and short prison sentences for women - Anita Dockley and Julie Trebilcock
‘Serious therapy’for serious female offenders: The democratic therapeutic community at HMP Send - Alisa Stevens
The role of the media in women’s penal reform - Gemma Birkett
Conclusions - Jill Annison, Jo Brayford and John Deering