The experiences of women convicted of serious violence is under-researched. In probation practice, this translates into a corresponding lack of investment in offending behaviour programmes and interventions specifically focussed on working with women’s violence and its origins. The Female Offender Strategy (MoJ, 2018) promotes a trauma-informed and gender-responsive approach to working with women within the criminal justice system and highlights the importance of taking a specialist approach. Given the lack of research on which to base such an approach however, specifically in relation to women convicted of serious violence, the current study focussed on attempting to capture this perspective using qualitative semi-structured interviews with seven women convicted of serious violence.

This research explores the experiences of five women convicted of murder who have participated in the Democratic Therapeutic Community (DTC) intervention at HM Prison Send. The study aimed to understand the experience of changing sense of self and identity. A subsidiary aim is to understand the mechanisms that facilitated the reported change by paying attention to the participant’s subjective experience and the objective external constructs. This study employs the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology. Participants who completed or partially completed the intervention reported positive changes relating to their sense of self, identity, and hopes for a crime-free future. However, participants described feeling overwhelmed during their participation and encountering numerous obstacles. Notably, participants reported that the positive change was not always identifiable until after they left the DTC. This study contributes insights into the distinctive contextual factors reflected in the women's experiences.

Incidence of trauma amongst women involved in the criminal justice system is significantly higher
than that of the general population and is regularly linked with women’s offending. In recent years
there has been growing interest in trauma-informed practice which seeks to recognise and respond
to the prevalence of trauma. This interest has spread to the criminal justice sector, with numerous
prisons, probation services and the third sector in the UK all experimenting with implementing
trauma-informed approaches. Contact with a legal professional is a common thread that runs
through many women’s journeys through the criminal justice system but, in the UK at least, has not
been explored as an area in which the aforementioned trauma-informed practices could be utilised.
Through hearing the voices of women that have worked with lawyers and the voices of lawyers
themselves, this study seeks to examine the extent to which trauma-informed approaches could be
usefully implemented at this ‘touchpoint’ in the criminal justice system and whether lawyers could
become part of the trauma-informed offer for women.

This research explores the testimonies of mothers who have experienced arguably two of the most extreme state interventions: a custodial sentence and the adoption of a child. Building on studies around maternal imprisonment and maternal rights, the research aims to explore protective factors for this group through a matricentric approach.

Findings are based on interviews with three birth mothers, two Probation Officers, two Social Workers, and five support workers and managers from various third sector agencies supporting women.

Though a small sample size, the findings show consensus among the Mothers and practitioners around the histories of trauma for birth mothers, where the removal of children then constituted a further trauma. Gender-specific approaches and therapeutic support are needed to break this cycle that can otherwise lead to involvement in both criminal and family courts, where poor interagency communication breaks down trust in professionals, acting as a barrier to mothers asking for support. Findings also identified the profound grief and loss experienced by the Mothers, and the hope (and likelihood) of future contact with birth children. Practitioners must think long-term, considering the effect that their words and the inclusion of recorded views of birth family may have on future reconciliatory relationships.

This research calls for a greater understanding of the impact of traumatic experiences on women in the criminal justice system, and for improved support for birth mothers, concluding with recommendations for improvements to both policy and practice.

Shame Resilience Theory (SRT) is a response to working with shaming feelings and behaviours as a way of both understanding and responding to shame (Brown, 2006, 2007, 2009). Shame is most effectively addressed through contact with those who understand and have had similar experiences, allowing for connection and empathy to self and other.

This research explores the potential for more effective use of such strategies and interventions to support women in custody. Using a case study approach, it explores the experiences of women who have participated in an SRT informed programme (RESTORE) to ascertain the potential impact of SRT on time served and on release.

This study focused on twelve women who received a direct pathway for housing following their release from prison. Using data collated through semi-structured interviews gathered over a 12-month period, the study followed the lives of the women as they settled in to their homes after varying terms in prison. The findings revealed that some of the women had little or no support for a need for housing previously and that a direct through the gate pathway to housing evidenced in this report produced positive outcomes that benefitted the participants and in some cases, their children. The findings revealed, that long-term housing needs were not part of resettlement planning – instead inappropriate assessments and placements into temporary accommodation were consistent avenues that addressed a short-term response for the providers of services and did not reflect or accept the complexities of women’s lives. Furthermore, the study evidenced the use of the “Housing First” model and the benefits this brought for the women in that they were able to flourish and readily adapt to life as women in the community and begin to leave their time in prison, behind them.

Sex workers present a complex and unique footprint of needs and behaviour patterns. This is especially the case when those women also have drug and alcohol issues. Yet, when many of these women enter drug treatment system, their histories of sex work and the complex patterns of needs that such histories generate are often overlooked. This is not surprising. In comparison to dealing with the immediate needs subsequent to drug and alcohol issues, tackling the needs arising from sex work can seem less urgent. Drug treatment is a momentous process of change, but the background question to this research report is whether just dealing with the drug and alcohol issues is enough or whether it is also necessary for a woman who has sex-worked to create an ex-sex worker role, and what stands in the way of or promotes that?

The focus of this research is on sex workers and the residential drug rehabilitation – a setting wherein they are attempting to produce momentous change in their lives. I interviewed street sex workers, escorts and parlour workers. The aim was to contextualise the meanings sex workers placed on sharing their internal world with others and the powerful impact of disclosure of sex work in relation to their treatment.

Comparatively little research has been conducted about the motivations and risk factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by women when contrasted to that of men. Few studies have investigated the effectiveness of interventions delivered to women convicted for IPV and virtually nothing is known about the experiences of probation officers working in this field. This study arose from observations I made working as a Male Safety Officer for the probation service, a role which offered support to men whose partners were convicted for offences of IPV towards them: very few probation officers made referrals and when they did, the men were frequently described as the ‘real’ or ‘primary’ perpetrator.

This exploratory study investigates the reasons for this, through interviews with probation officers’ about their attitudes towards women convicted of IPV and how these impacted their work; it reveals insights about how participants dealt with two issues with which they were frequently confronted: women who reported perpetrating offences within the context of experiencing violence from partners and the high number who referred to experiences of trauma and psychological disturbance.

This study stems from the author’s work as a manager with the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI), with particular responsibility for the INSPIRE Women’s Project. The research explores the transition of women from prison into the community through the women’s own accounts — within the context of Northern Ireland — and tests the view that, if women can sustain periods in the community following release beyond twelve weeks, the likelihood of successful re-integration is improved. The research used a longitudinal qualitative methodology centered on in-depth, life history interviews with women pre- and post-custody.

This research sought to address the following questions:
• How do voluntary sector agencies working with women offenders currently perceive partnership work?
• What is the current and emerging National and Statutory policy with regards to working with women offenders, and how does that impact on the partnerships in Bradford District?
• What barriers are there to successful partnership work?
• What impact does the contracting of services have on partnership activity for women offenders?
• How can partnerships sustain and develop in future to improve outcomes for women offenders?
The approach to this research combined both qualitative and quantitative data.

This research looked at the reasons that women return to custody following a breach of licence (recall). Its purpose was to find out more about why women come back to custody; to see if there were discrepancies in the reporting; and to find out whether there were certain women more at risk of being recalled than others. The research also asked whether women who had been recalled had particular difficulties resettling into the community.

This research evaluated The Freedom Programme - a group work support programme for women in prison. Three research questions were addressed: does the programme
help women to develop ways of thinking and behaving that protect themselves, their children and others from harm; is the programme of equal value for BME women, lesbian women etc. as it is for white heterosexual women; and to what extent do women value the process of being able to discuss, share and explore issues with other women? The research questions were addressed through 14 interviews with women who attended the programme, four interviews with facilitators and observation of two sessions.