How “Specific” Are Gender-Specific Rehabilitation Needs? An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

There has been relatively little empirical research on the distinctive characteristics and needs of female offenders that could help guide rehabilitative approaches that are gender specific. This study considered a sample of female offenders ( N = 886) and male offenders ( N = 1,435) who had been released from incarceration and provided with assessment services as part of the community reentry process. Comparisons were conducted using the employment, companions, and financial domains of the Level of Service Inventory (LSI-R and LS-CMI). Female offenders received significantly higher ratings in companion and financial deficits, consistent with some prior research suggesting that social and financial risk factors for offending may be more substantial in women. Implications for research and the practice of gender-specific rehabilitation approaches are discussed.

Gender-Responsive Lessons Learned and Policy Implications for Women in Prison

“…Female offenders may have trouble keeping full-time employment, which may explain why a high percentage report receiving some sort of public assistance prior to their arrest, report being homeless, or report having lived in shelters at some point during their adulthood . Heilbrun et al (2008) also reported that released female offenders in New Jersey showed higher levels of risk on the financial domain of the Level of Service Inventory than male offenders.…”

Violent women: a multicentre study into gender differences in forensic psychiatric patients

“…While women still represent a minority of the forensic psychiatric and prison population, the number of women committing violent crimes has increased steadily over the past two decades (Heilbrun et al, 2008;Odgers, Moretti, & Reppucci, 2005). Moreover, some types of violence, such as domestic and inpatient violence seem to be as common in women as in men (Nicholls, Brink, Greaves, ABSTRACT To gain insight into the relatively small, but increasing group of women in forensic psychiatry, a retrospective multicentre study was started gathering information from the files of 275 female patients of four Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals on characteristics and violence risk factors.…”

“…Bartlett, Jhanjib, Whitec, & Harty, 2014;Blanchette & Brown, 2006;Covington & Bloom, 2006;Heilbrun et al, 2008;Long, Fulton, & Hollin, 2008). In general, these treatment models stress the importance of using gender-sensitive risk assessment and addressing issues such as trauma, (sexual) abuse, and the role of social relations and disruptions in these relations Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 09:54 30 December 2015 during treatment.…”

Exploring the Criminal Behavior of Women with Psychopathy: Results from a Multicenter Study into Psychopathy and Violent Offending in Female Forensic Psychiatric Patients

“…Although women represent a smaller proportion of the penitentiary population compared to men, in the past two decades violence by girls and women has increased internationally (Heilbrun et al, 2008;Odgers, Moretti, & Reppucci, 2005). In the Netherlands, women are a minority within the penitentiary system and the forensic psychiatric care system, but recent surveys showed an increase over the last 30 years from about 4% in forensic residential care in the 1980s to 7% in 2011, and 9% inflow in 2011 (DJI, 2012a;Lammers & de Vogel, 2012).…”