NCJ Number
186640
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: 2000 Pages: 75-89
Date Published
2000
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses various understandings of the concept of empowerment and critically examines the way it is currently being used to describe the needs and experiences of female offenders.
Abstract
The discussion focuses on the implications of a predominantly psychological notion of empowerment on conceptions of women's agency and women's choices. The analysis suggests the expansion of approaches to women's empowerment and women's agency beyond an individualistic analysis. The discussion suggests that the theoretical perspective of relational autonomy as an alternative way of understanding female criminality. It also notes that its interpretation of relational autonomy has several implications for women's prison programming and policy. Relational autonomy suggests that peer support groups provide one method of increasing women's autonomy in prison and providing opportunities to develop skills and gain support. Relational autonomy also suggests the desirability of promoting connections with community resources and the importance of uncovering the impact of trauma and drug abuse on women's sense of themselves as autonomous agents. 33 references