Chapter 14 Women Offenders There has been a staggering increase in the number of women offenders who entered the US criminal justice system in the last 30 years Despite these dramatic influences women are not committing more crimes and have no become more violent than in years past A variety of public policies during the 1980 s 90 s contributed to the likelihood of women esp poor black women being under some form of correctional supervision o War on Drugs o Welfare reform policies during the Clinton administration o Mandatory arrest strategies for domestic violence o Mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines Women offenders when broadly comparing them to their men offender counterparts reflect a relatively low risk but high need population Women s Unique Criminogenic Pathways and Needs Women offenders experience extreme poverty multiple forms of child abuse and ongoing adult victimization low educational achievement mental illness self medicating behavior with alcohol or other drugs unhealthy intimate relationships parental stress and low levels of self esteem and self efficacy Research statistically supports these self report stories from women many of these needs intersect in ways that significantly increase the likelihood od recidivism for women offenders Common pathways o Child abuse pathway o Relational pathway o Social and human capital pathway In response to the growing evidence revealing that girls and women are less dangerous and have distinct needs there has been a significant paradigm shift toward supervision and treatment programs that are gender responsive Theoretical Foundations to the Gender Responsive Perspective Relational Theory o A woman s growth is manifested through the types of relationships she has and her sense of self worth is defined by interconnections with others Holistic Addiction Theory o Recognizes that addicted women differ from males in significant ways and women s substance abusing behavior is a complex problem for which a multi faceted treatment model should be implemented Theory or Trauma o Useful in directing treatment providers toward appropriate and effective treatment modalities for coping with trauma Translating the Gender Responsive Perspective into Practice Because the vast majority of policies in the correctional system were originally designed for men applied to women under a false assumption that both groups behave similarly there are disadvantages for women in many correctional policies Gender Responsive Principles for Women Gender makes a difference Environments must be based on safety respect and dignity Relationships are central to women s lives Services must be comprehensive integrated and culturally relevant Provide opportunities to improve women s socio economic status Collaborate with community resources Trauma Informed Policies Supervision and Treatment Because of the high prevalence of abuse and victimization in women s lives and the inability to distinguish who has or has not experiences trauma it has been suggested that a policy of universal precautions be implemented among service agencies The best practices treat all women as if they are trauma survivors Gender Responsive Risk Needs Assessment Women s Risk Needs Assessment WRNA o Stand alone assessment o Supplement to existing gender neutral assessments Service Planning Instrument for Women Spin W Gender Responsive Curricula Beyond Trauma Female Offender Treatment and Employment Program FOTEP Forever Free Helping Women Recover La Bodega de la Familia Vera Family Justice Program Moving On Seeking Safety Women Offender Case Management Model WOCMM Gender Responsive Program Assessment Gender Informed Practices Assessment GIPA Gender Responsive Standards Assessment Tool for Girls Programs Services Chapter 15 In the 1960s there were few treatments that indicated effectiveness by any type of intervention however the studies used to prove this did not include cognitive behavioral programming MOST EFFECTIVE TREATMENT How Effective Are We at Rehabilitating Offenders 64 of all treatment programs reduce recidivism by an average of 10 Appropriate interventions meaning they share programmatic features reduce recidivism by 25 30 Appropriate treatment programs also produce substantial reductions in other measures of antisocial behavior such as prison misconduct that are correlated with recidivism Appropriate treatment programs set in the community generally produce 2 3 times greater reductions in recidivism than prison based programs The Principles of Effective Treatment 1 The treatment is based on behavioral strategies radical behavioral social learning or cognitive behavioral Program facilitators should imitate anti criminal modeling reinforcement and disapproval problem solving structured skill building procedures cognitive self change and motivational learning Cognitive behavioral is the favored intervention modality 2 The program has a comprehensive program manual and explains the curriculum clearly 3 The treatment is located in the offender s natural environment or attempts to closely 4 The treatment is multimodal meaning it offers a variety of interventions to meet all the resemble it offenders needs dynamic in nature 5 Treatment should be approx 100 hours of direct service over a 3 4 month period 6 The treatment emphasizes positive reinforcement for prosocial behavior 7 Targeted behaviors are those that are predictive of future criminal behavior and are 8 The treatment should be designed to match key offender characteristics and learning styles with relevant therapist characteristics and program features in order to facilitate the learning of prosocial values Responsivity principle 9 Once the formal phase of treatment has finished aftercare is continued on an as needed basis Relapse prevention is most helpful for sex offenders and substance abusers 10 All necessary system factors must be in place for effective service delivery What Does Not Work 1 Inappropriate programs are based on psychodynamic non directive and medical model treatments Also programs based on threats and inciting fear boot camp drug testing have been failures 2 Sociological perspectives that singularly target the importance of respect for an offender s culture diversion from the correctional system or providing access to legitimate opportunities for the disadvantaged are associated with the slight increases in recidivism 3 Programs that intensively treat low risk or target behaviors that are weak predictors of