A Woman's Journey Home: The Effect of Incarcerat ion and Reentry on Children, Families and Communities

Over the past 25 years our knowledge and understanding of women's lives have increased dramatically. The new information has impacted and improved services for women in the fields of health, education, employment, mental health, substance abuse, and trauma treatment. At present, both a need and an opportunity exist to bring knowledge from other fields into the criminal justice system in order to develop effective programs for women. Until recently, theory and research on criminality focused on crimes perpetrated by males, with male offenders viewed as the norm. Historically, correctional programming for women has thus been based on profiles of male criminality or paths to crime. However, the programs, policies, and services that focus on the overwhelming number of men in the corrections system often fail to identify options that would be gender-responsive and culturally responsive to the specific needs of women. [31 PDF pages]