Factors of Prison Recidivism in Women: A Socioeducational and Sustainable Development Analysis

Abstract

This article analyses women sentenced to prison in Spain (in open, closed, or ordinary regimes) to examine the risk and protection factors fundamentally related to criminal-prison recidivism. The study is national in scope, with a stratified representative sample of 756 female inmates, 446 in a closed environment and 310 in an open one. The women were surveyed using mixed questionnaires, and the data were analyzed using various tests and quantitative models of analysis. The results show the relationship between recidivism and different sociological and criminological characteristics. They highlight national origin as a risk factor for both samples. Age, addiction profile, criminal antecedents as a minor, and age at which the woman first went to prison were also assessed. Protective factors included official education, with education during the sentence as the most important, as well as courses and/or intervention programs attended. All of these issues contribute not only basic knowledge on the topic—for women while in prison and on temporary release—but also the foundations for improving prison socioeducational interventions/treatments and sustainable human development, and for preventing recidivism based on the best, most effective programs that focus on these issues.

Los factores de reinserción en el tratamiento de drogodependencias con mujeres penadas en España

“…Drug dependency is not only a common problem in the prison environment (Doyle et al, 2022;Neale et al, 2005;Rodríguez, 2016) but also a risk factor for social exclusion. Social exclusion is in turn associated with anti-social behaviour and psycho-emotional maladjustments that encourage criminal activity and condition reintegration processes (Goomany & Dickinson, 2015;Moles-López & Añaños, 2021;Yamamoto et al, 2014). According to the Survey on Health and Drug Consumption of Inmates in Prisons in Spain (La Encuesta sobre Salud y consumo de Drogas a los internados en Instituciones Penitenciarias en España [ESDIP]) carried out by the Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs (Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas [DGPND], 2016), 71 % of the Spanish prison population engages in drug abuse.…”

“…It is worth noting that 60.6 % of women prisoners and 23.2 % of women in semi-liberty in Spain had abused drugs before entering prison (Añaños & García-Vita, 2017;Galán et al, 2021). For prisoners in the United States (Mallik-Kane & Visher, 2008), this situation worsens in the post-prison phase (83 %), demonstrating failure in reintegration processes (Moles-López & Añaños, 2021;Rodríguez, 2016).…”

Fetching water with a leaking container: Female offenders’ rehabilitation programme limitation, South Africa

“…Female offenders' recidivism and factors that may lower the likelihood of recidivism attracted considerable scholarly interest (Alward, Caudy & Viglione, 2020;Fazel & Wolf, 2015;Link, Ward & Stansfield, 2019;Miller & Miller, 2015;Mowen & Boman, 2019;Wesely & Dewey, 2018), as female recidivism rate, still poses as one of the most significant challenges facing the criminal justice system (CJS), penitentiary systems and society in general the world over (Beall, 2018;Bronson & Carson, 2019;Butorac, Gracin & Stanic, 2017;Moles-López & Añaños, 2021;Sawyer, 2018). The correctional facilities are not adequate and what compounded the challenge is a lack of corresponding increase in female programmes to rehabilitate female offenders.…”

“…They are rehabilitated as male offenders failing which to recognize the gender disparities. The needs of the female offenders are different from their male counterparts (Miller 2021, Moles-López & Añaños, 2021Morash, Bynum & Koo, 1998).…”

The Professional Dimension in Spanish Prison Socio-Educational Action

“…Prisons are presented as spaces for re-educational intervention dedicated to training, comprehensive development, and socio-occupational promotion [8][9][10][11], beyond the traditional punitive and punishing function. Education/social pedagogy constitute fields of socio-educational action in prisons to reduce the risk factors of crime, recidivism and facilitate the process of reintegration [12][13][14].…”