Female Offenders and Women in Prison

Dealing with Difference in Desistance Theory: The Promise of Intersectionality for New Avenues of Inquiry

“…The rapid increase in women's imprisonment rates for nearly forty years has offered little new knowledge about how to effectively sustain desistance among women (Carson and Sabol ). Female criminality primarily follows gendered pathways that illustrate the social organization of their lives within a patriarchal social structure (Chesney‐Lind and Rodriguez ; Daly ; Naffine ; Traylor and Richie ). Women are frequently incarcerated for property or drug offenses, which are linked contextual issues in their lives (e.g., interpersonal relationships, extensive histories of trauma and victimization, and co‐occurring wellness issues) (Belknap ; Greenfeld and Snell ).…”

“…Desistance literature highlights conventional control mechanisms over the life course that encourages desistance, such as aging, employment, marriageability, and parenthood (Laub et al ; Laub and Sampson ; Maruna ; Sampson and Laub ; Uggen ). Longitudinally, women's patterns of offending are embedded within a context that involves negotiating complicated relationships, while dealing with substance use, co‐occurring wellness problems, and profound histories of victimization (Belknap ; Bloom et al ; Chesney‐Lind ; Giordano et al ; Traylor and Richie ). While the core desistance theories describe issues that generally apply to returning citizens, the literature neglects the influence of social stratification in structuring support and hindrances to women's reentry and desistance.…”

“…While the core desistance theories describe issues that generally apply to returning citizens, the literature neglects the influence of social stratification in structuring support and hindrances to women's reentry and desistance. Instead, identity‐based explanations, such as gendered pathways research, explicate women's criminality in ways traditional desistance theories omit (Belknap ; Bloom et al ; Chesney‐Lind ; Traylor and Richie ). Bloom et al () reveal the intertwining nature of women's deviance with the prevalence of substance use, property offenses, and antisocial relationships with partners and peers.…”

“…Bloom et al () reveal the intertwining nature of women's deviance with the prevalence of substance use, property offenses, and antisocial relationships with partners and peers. Pathways research shifts “women's issues” from the periphery of criminal justice and criminology as scholars seek to explain changes in gender dynamics within the justice system and recidivism risks for this population (Traylor and Richie ).…”

Women as active agents: Female perpetrators of sexual harassment and domestic abuse.

“…The denial of female aggression is integral to professional response to sexual offences, which is often ambivalent (Denov, 2001;Finkelhor, Williams, Burns, & Kalinowski 1988;Hetherton & Beardsall, 1998). It explains, for example, why conviction rates for female perpetrators are significantly lower than for cases involving male perpetrators (Boyce, 2013;Holmes, 2010;Traylor & Richie, 2012). As researchers cannot fail to be influenced by their cultural context, they are liable to hold similar attitudes.…”