Gill McIvor

Women, resettlement and desistance

With the numbers of women imprisoned increasing across Western jurisdictions over the last 15 or so years, so too have the numbers of women returning to the community following a period in custody. Despite increasing policy attention in the UK and elsewhere to prisoner resettlement, women’s experiences on release from prison have received limited empirical and policy attention. Drawing upon interviews with women leaving prison in Victoria, Australia, this article discusses the resettlement challenges faced by the women and highlights their similarity to the experiences of women leaving prison in other jurisdictions. Women had mixed (and predominantly negative) experiences and views of accessing services and supports following release, though experiences of parole supervision by community corrections officers were often positive, especially if women felt valued and supported by workers who demonstrated genuine concern. Analysis of factors associated with further offending and with desistance, points to the critical role of flexible, tailored and women-centred post-release support building, and, where possible, upon relationships established with women while they are still in prison.

Jobs for the Boys?: Gender Differences in Referral to Community Service

Community service is most commonly imposed upon young males and there are clear differences in the characteristics of men and women sentenced to undertake unpaid work. Gender differences may be introduced at any of a number of key decision-making points in the sentencing process. Data from three Scottish courts indicate that women referred for community service assessments are less likely than men to be at risk of custody, with gender differences being particularly marked among cases referred directly by the court. It is concluded that the potential for community service to divert women from short sentences of imprisonment is not being fully exploited.

Community service in Belgium, the Netherlands, Scotland and Spain: A comparative perspective

Current criminological research is particularly interested in the question whether or not we are witnessing a punitive turn and it seems that Western democracies today punish differently than a few decades ago. The ‘new punitiveness’ literature (Pratt, et. al., 2005) and David Garland’s (2001) study on the culture of control have fuelled an ongoing debate and research on this question. There are however many ways to compare penal practices and measure punitiveness. Leading comparative research by Cavadino & Dignan (2006) for example relates variations in incarceration rates to contrasting kinds of political economy. However, punitiveness rankings vary substantially depending on the indicator used and ideally we have to take into account all of them to make sense of the assumed penal change. In this special issue we have focused on the use and implementation of community service and have focussed on its characteristics as a contemporary form of punishment. Through a detailed description of the different aspects of the rhetoric on and practice of community service, we aim to identify commonalities and local differences and attempt to understand and explain them. The question of increasing or decreasing punitiveness therefore is only one of our points of interest.

‘Time Out’ for Women: Innovation in Scotland in a Context of Change

The 218 Centre was set up following consistent concerns about the increasing number of women in prison in Scotland and the high-level needs of many of these women. It is an innovative and high-profile attempt to develop appropriate responses to women in the criminal justice system. It offers women an opportunity for time out of their normal environment without resorting to time in custody, providing both residential and community-based services. This article outlines some of the issues and challenges which characterised the early development and operation of the 218 Centre. It illustrates the ways in which some of the issues that arose during the evaluation resonate with current and ongoing debates within criminology, and draws attention to the difficulties in using the criminal justice system to address other issues.

Professional decision making and women offenders: Containing the chaos?

This article draws on the findings from research undertaken in south-east Scotland in 2008 which sought to identify the characteristics of female offenders and to document the views of policy makers and practitioners regarding the experiences of women involved in the Scottish criminal justice system. Despite Scotland having retained a stronger ‘welfare’ focus than elsewhere in the UK (e.g. McAra, 2008), this is not reflected in the treatment of women who offend, with the rate of female imprisonment having almost doubled in the last ten years and community-based disposals falling short of a welfare-oriented system. This article explores why the treatment that women offenders receive in the criminal justice system may be harsh and disproportionate both in relation to their offending and in relation to the treatment of men. It is argued that interventions with women need to be initiated earlier in their cycle of offending and at an earlier stage in the criminal justice process but also that the wide-ranging health, welfare, financial and behavioural needs of women who offend cannot be met solely within an increasingly risk-averse and punitive criminal justice environment.

The Effectiveness of Support and Rehabilitation Services for Women Offenders

Abstract There is a large body of research evidence suggesting that support, rehabilitation, and supervision programs can help offenders to reduce recidivism. However, the effectiveness of these services is dependent upon the extent to which the workers who deliver them comply with “what works” principles and practices. Because most of this research has been conducted with men, this study focused on the extent to which these principles and practices apply to women. In particular, the study examined services offered to a group of women in prison in Victoria, Australia, and following their release to the community; and the relationship between these womens views about the services, recidivism, and the characteristics of the services. Results were generally consistent with earlier research. The women favoured services that are delivered by workers who are reliable, holistic, collaborative, who understand the womens perspective, and that focus on strengths. They did not support services that challenged the women, focused on their offences, or on the things they did badly.

Paying Back: 30 Years of Unpaid Work by Offenders in Scotland

This article considers the development and use of unpaid work as a penal sanction in Scotland, including its gradual introduction at differing points of the criminal justice process. It is argued that the community service order in Scotland — intended to serve as an alternative to imprisonment — has become a well-established sentencing option, though other penalties involving unpaid work have met with more conditional support. Community service has broadly resisted political pressures aimed at increasing its profile and punitiveness though there is a risk that contemporary policy developments that are aimed, ironically, at decreasing the Scottish prison population may, instead, result in its diversionary capacity being undermined.

Unpaid Work as an Alternative to Imprisonment for Fine Default in Austria and Scotland

Many jurisdictions have introduced other non-custodial measures to decrease the usage of fines, nevertheless they are still a popular sanction. Although the majority of offenders fined pay their fine, some are unable or unwilling to do so and as a consequence can be imprisoned. At a time when prisons are overcrowded and short term sentences are a substantial administrative endeavour, with little to no re-socializing potential, many jurisdictions have implemented other measures to prevent imprisonment for fine default such as unpaid work. Both Austria and Scotland have implemented the possibility of unpaid work as an alternative to imprisonment for fine default. While Scotland has almost 20 years of experience, Austria has just recently implemented the option of community work for fine defaulters in 2008. This article examines the experience of unpaid work as an alternative to imprisonment for fine default in these two contrasting jurisdictions and discusses the key differences between them. It considers whether the implementation of unpaid work as an alternative to imprisonment for fine default in each jurisdiction fulfilled the original policy intentions and what wider lessons can be learned from their experiences of unpaid work for offenders who fail to pay their fines.

Sentencing drug offenders under the 2003 Criminal Justice Act: Challenges for the probation service

For the most part the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, which came into effect in England and Wales in April 2005, was accepted by the probation service with relatively little opposition. Given the enormity of its impact acquiescence to this degree of change ought to come as something of a surprise. The 2003 Act changed fundamentally the nature of community supervision, it brought to an end the traditional range of non-custodial penalties and replaced them with a single community order to which sentencers could add any of 12 possible requirements. This article considers the impact of the 2003 legislation on one particular offender group – drug misusers. Drug misusing offenders have the potential to pose serious difficulties for probation officers; the habitual nature of drug addiction and a tendency towards an irregular lifestyle make drug misusers particularly susceptible to breach. Under the new legislation courts have significantly fewer options available to them when responding to incidents of offender non-compliance. This article argues that many of the provisions of the 2003 Act together with developments elsewhere in the UK are likely to have impacted disproportionately on those groups whose lifestyles are chaotic and whose routines are incompatible with the terms and conditions of modern day probation practice. It concludes that greater flexibility towards non-compliance, supported by regular and consistent judicial review, would encourage improved rates of compliance and retention in treatment and improved outcomes for offenders.

“You Think You’re Helping Them, But They’re Helping You Too”: Experiences of Scottish Male Young Offenders Participating in a Dog Training Program

Interaction with animals can be beneficial to humans and animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) are increasingly popular in a range of contexts. Dog training programs (DTPs) are the most popular form of AAI in custodial contexts; prisoners often have multiple needs and DTPs seem to facilitate a diverse range of positive outcomes, including improvements in well-being, behavior, and offending behavior. However, evidence on the efficacy of prison-based DTPs is still limited and these evaluations often lack detail or methodological rigor. We examined the experiences of male young offenders (N = 70) using thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted following completion of a DTP. The themes that emerged indicated a broad range of inter-related experiences and positive outcomes. The most prevalent theme related to their experiences with Dogs (including feelings and attitudes), and there were perceived improvements categorized as: Positive Effects (including mood and well-being), Motivation, Charitable Purpose, Self-Efficacy, Improved Skills, Impulsivity, and Emotional Management. These themes mapped well onto outcomes previously identified in research on DTPs, and to the program’s core aims of improving behavior, educational engagement, employability, and well-being. The diversity and nature of these themes indicates that DTPs have considerable potential to engage and benefit those individuals with multiple needs, such as young offenders, and ultimately to achieve positive long-term outcomes with significant social, health, and economic impact.