NCJ Number
230207
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 71 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2009 Pages: 60-63
Date Published
December 2009
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article identifies gender-related offender needs that require reintegration services for female offenders to be different from those for male offenders in some areas.
Abstract
Based on the available evidence, the authors of this article argue that integrating the gender-neutral principles of effective correctional intervention with gender-informed approaches will yield optimal results in reintegration efforts. The authors note that in a unique and empirically strong 2009 study that examined gendered pathways, E. Salisbury and P. Van Voorhis used interview and survey data to assess various gender-responsive needs with an intake cohort of more than 300 probationers. Results of this study, which used a path analytic approach, supported three gendered pathways to women's incarceration. One pathway begins with childhood victimization as a factor in mental illness and substance abuse. A second pathway is a relational pathway in which women's dysfunctional intimate relationships enable adult victimization, reduced self-efficacy, and current mental illness and substance abuse. A third pathway is a social and human capital pathway in which women's needs are related to deficits in the areas of education, family support, and self-efficacy, as well as relationship dysfunction, which contribute to employment/financial difficulties and imprisonment. The authors of this article agree that identification pathways into crime should be integrated into services designed to create pathways out of crime. They do not suggest disregarding traditional gender-neutral principles of effective rehabilitation. On the contrary, there is well-substantiated value in the risk/needs/responsivity paradigm; however, the authors maintain that a gender-informed perspective can incorporate elements from both gender-neutral and female-centered approaches in producing a more effective reentry strategy for female offenders. 31 notes