Alternative Approaches for and with Women in the Criminal Justice System

Dear Colleagues,

Women in the criminal justice system (CJS) are arrested, processed, sentenced, and sometimes incarcerated by a system designed by men for men. There has long been a recognition that the issues that women face in the CJS are substantially different from those for men, but yet there remain constant shortfalls in addressing these. Women typically have a much bigger and broader range of issues and personal trauma, including being trapped in a cycle of abuse, misusing substances, homelessness, and mental health issues. Typically, women are sentenced more severely than male counter parts, with women of colour facing additional discrimination and more limited resources because of their intersectionality. In prison, self-harm rates are rising exponentially, and there are poor birth outcomes for pregnant women. Mothers across the CJS must juggle their responsibilities alongside a very real threat of losing their children to local authority care. With prison overcrowding and inadequate as well as often dangerous provisions, there is an urgent need to find specialist support and tailored interventions that respond to the needs of women at every stage of the CJS.

This Special Issue aims to begin to re-address this imbalance by investigating the progressive provisions (from both abolitionist and reformist perspectives) available to women in the CJS from the first point of contact to the last. These include female victims of crime. We particularly welcome research that looks at provisions for and the experiences of women with lived experience, including those who work within it. Explorations and/or evaluations of interventions that consider secondary harm to families and communities of women who are or have been part of the CJS are also encouraged.

Manuscripts of interest include, but are not limited to, those dealing with the following topics:

• Alternative ways of engaging professionals who work with women in the CJS (e.g., police, court staff, and victim support services).
• Creative interventions for women at any stage of the CJS (from the point of arrest to the end of sentence).
• Innovative research methodologies that engage women in the CJS in research.
• Research or examples of practice that engage diverse and alternative stakeholders in work with women in the CJS.

Prof. Dr. Tirion Havard
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• women
• criminal justice system
• interventions
• support