Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Narratives of Punishment and Frustrated Desistance in the Lives of Repeatedly Criminalised Women

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
New Perspectives on Desistance

Abstract

In England and Wales, the spectre of the ‘persistent offender’ has become increasingly important to penal policymaking in recent decades. Yet the means by which the criminal justice machinery seeks to punish and reduce prolific recidivism remain woefully under-theorised, both in relation to what we know about processes of desistance and re-entry, and what we know of experiences of persistent offending and gender.

Using data from life history interviews with women in two English prisons, this chapter critically interrogates the ways in which imprisonment, community supervision, and prolific offender schemes might serve to frustrate rather than foster the desistance projects of substance-addicted and repeatedly criminalised women, and to perpetuate rather than terminate their cycles of reconviction and reincarceration.

The author wishes to express her thanks and gratitude to Yvonne Jewkes and Isla Masson, as well as the editors, for their helpful feedback and thoughtful comments.

Throughout this chapter, the term ‘repeatedly criminalised’ is used in order to try and direct attention away from the individual, and to refocus it on state mechanisms of criminalisation and labelling.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The first, Prevent and Deter, focuses on early intervention with children and young people (aged 18 years and under), with the aim of preventing them from entering the ‘prolific offending’ group.

  2. 2.

    Such projects outside of England and Wales include the use of Persistent Offender Facilities in The Netherlands, Virginia’s Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program in the United States and Vancouver’s Chronic Offender Unit.

  3. 3.

    For those interested in ‘getting in, getting on and getting out’ in doing prisons research, I direct readers to Jewkes and Wright (2016) and Sloan and Wright (2015).

  4. 4.

    The women are identified in the first instance as either ‘PPO’ or ‘non-PPO’ when quoting from interviews; thereafter, they are referred to only by their pseudonym, as the repetition of these labels was felt to be unnecessary.

  5. 5.

    For further socio-demographic and offence details of the women in the sample, see Wright (2015).

  6. 6.

    While the advent of Transforming Rehabilitation saw the remit of community penalties split between the existing NPS and the new Community Rehabilitation Companies, the current study preceded these changes.

  7. 7.

    Formerly known as ‘Probation hostels’ or ‘bail hostels’, approved premises are residential units which house individuals in the community, often following release from prison, in England and Wales.

References

  • Baldry, E. 2010. ‘Women in Transition: From Prison to.’ Current Issues in Criminal Justice 22(2): 253–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, C.R., A.A.J. Blokland, C. van der Werff, R. van Os, and P. Nieuwbeerta. 2010. ‘Long-Term Patterns of Offending in Women.’ Feminist Criminology 5(1): 73–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, T., M. Breitenbach, W. Dieterich, E.J. Salisbury, and P. van Voorhis. 2012. ‘Women’s Pathways to Serious and Habitual Crime: A Person-Centered Analysis Incorporating Gender Responsive Factors.’ Criminal Justice and Behavior 39(11): 1481–1508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broidy, L.M., A.L. Stewart, C. M. Thompson, A. Chrzanowski, T. Allard, and S.M. Dennison. 2015. ‘Life Course Offending Pathways Across Gender and Race/Ethnicity.’ Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology 1(2): 118–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M., and S. Ross. 2010. ‘Mentoring, Social Capital and Desistance: A Study of Women Released from Prison.’ The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 43(1): 31–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bushway, S.D., R. Brame, and R. Paternoster. 2004. ‘Connecting Desistance and Recidivism: Measuring Changes in Criminality over the Lifespan.’ In After Crime and Punishment: Pathways to Offender Reintegration, edited by S. Maruna and R. Immarigeon, 85–101. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlton, B., and M. Segrave. 2011. ‘Women’s Survival Post-Imprisonment: Connecting Imprisonment with Pains Past and Present.’ Punishment & Society 13(5): 551–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlton, B., and M. Segrave, eds. 2013. Women Exiting Prison: Critical Essays on Gender, Post-Release Support and Survival. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cauffman, E., K.C. Monahan, and A.G. Thomas. 2015. ‘Pathways to Persistence: Female Offending from 14 to 25.’ Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology 1(3): 236–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobbina, J.E., and K.A. Bender. 2012. ‘Predicting the Future: Incarcerated Women’s Views of Reentry Success.’ Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 51(5): 275–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corston, J. 2007. ‘The Corston Report. A Report by Baroness Jean Corston of a Review of Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System: The Need for a Distinct, Radically Different, Visibly-Led, Strategic, Proportionate, Holistic, Woman-Centred, Integrated Approach.’ London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, P. 2005. ‘Early Findings from the Prolific and Other Priority Offenders Evaluation: Development and Practice Report 46.’ London, UK: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, P. 2007. ‘The National PPO Evaluation – Research to Inform and Guide Practice (Home Office Online Report 09/07).’ London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, P., and L. Cuppleditch. 2007. ‘An Impact Assessment of the Prolific and Other Priority Offender Programme: Home Office Online Report 08/07.’ London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLisi, M. 2002. ‘Not Just a Boy’s Club: An Empirical Assessment of Female Career Criminals.’ Women & Criminal Justice 13(4): 27–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrall, S., A. Bottoms, and J. Shapland. 2010. ‘Social Structures and Desistance from Crime.’ European Journal of Criminology 7(6): 546–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halsey, M. 2007. ‘Assembling Recidivism: The Promise and Contingencies of Post-Release Life.’ Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 97: 1209–1260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halsey, M., R. Armstrong, and S. Wright. 2016. ‘“F**k It!’ Matza and the Mood of Fatalism in the Desistance Process.’ British Journal of Criminology (Advance Online Publication). doi: 10.1093/bjc/azw041.

  • Heidensohn, F. 1991. ‘Women and Crime in Europe.’ In Crime in Europe, edited by F. Heidensohn and M. Farrell, 55–71. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office. 2004a. Prolific and Other Priority Offender Strategy – Initial Guidance: Catch and Convict Framework. London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Home Office. 2004b. Prolific and Other Priority Offender Strategy – Supplementary Guidance: Rehabilitate and Resettle Framework. London: HMSO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, M., and J. Wickson. 2013. ‘Targeting Prolific and Other Priority Offenders and Promoting Pathways to Desistance: Some Reflections on the PPO Programme Using a Theory of Change Framework.’ Criminology and Criminal Justice 13(5): 594–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard League for Penal Reform. 2011. No Winners: The Reality of Short Term Prisons Sentences. London: The Howard League for Penal Reform.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jewkes, Y., and S. Wright. 2016. ‘Researching the prison.’ In The Handbook of Prisons, 2nd ed., edited by Y. Jewkes, B. Crewe, and J. Bennett, 659–676. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, R.S. 2000. ‘Explaining Girls’ and Women’s Crime and Desistance in the Context of Their Victimization Experiences: A Developmental Test of Revised Strain Theory and the Life Course Perspective.’ Violence Against Women 6(6): 633–660.

    Google Scholar 

  • Light, M., E. Grant, and K. Hopkins. 2013. Gender Differences in Substance Misuse and Mental Health Amongst Prisoners: Results from the Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) Longitudinal Cohort Study of Prisoners. London: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maruna, S. 2001. Making Good: How Ex-Convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives. Washington DC, United States: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Justice. 2014. Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System 2013. London: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nugent, B., and M. Schinkel. 2016. ‘The Pains of Desistance.’ Criminology and Criminal Justice (Advance Online Publication). doi: 10.1177/1748895816634812.

  • Prochaska, J.O., C.C. DiClemente, and J.C. Norcross. 1992. ‘In Search of How People Change: Applications to Addictive Behaviors.’ American Psychologist 47(9): 1102–1104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rex, S. 1999. ‘Desistance from Offending: Experiences of Probation.’ The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 38(4): 366–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schinkel, M. 2014. Being Imprisoned: Punishment, Adaptation and Desistance. Houndmills: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sloan, J., and S. Wright. 2015. ‘Going in Green: Reflections on the challenges of “getting in, getting on, and getting out” for doctoral prisons researchers.’ In The International Handbook of Prison Ethnography, edited by R. Earle, D. Drake, and J. Sloan, 143–163. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sommers, I., D.R. Baskin, and J. Fagan. 1994. ‘Getting Out of the Life: Crime Desistance by Female Street Offenders.’ Deviant Behavior 15(2): 125–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soothill, K., E. Ackerley, and B. Francis. 2003. ‘The Persistent Offenders Debate: A Focus on Temporal Changes.’ Criminal Justice 3(4): 389–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Ginneken, E.F.J.C. 2016. ‘Making Sense of Imprisonment: Narratives of Posttraumatic Growth Among Female Prisoners.’ International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology 60(2): 208–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. 1984. ‘The Genesis of Chronic Illness: Narrative Re-Construction.’ Sociology of Health and Illness 6(2): 175–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worrall, A., and L. Gelsthorpe. 2009. ‘“What Works” with Women Offenders: The Past 30 Years.’ Probation Journal 56(4): 329–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. 2015. ‘“Persistent” and “Prolific” Offending Across the Life-Course as Experienced by Women: Chronic Recidivism and Frustrated Desistance.’ University of Surrey: Unpublished PhD thesis.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, England, United Kingdom

    Serena Wright

Authors
  1. Serena Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Serena Wright .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Law School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom

    Emily Luise Hart

  2. Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Esther F.J.C. van Ginneken

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wright, S. (2017). Narratives of Punishment and Frustrated Desistance in the Lives of Repeatedly Criminalised Women. In: Hart, E., van Ginneken, E. (eds) New Perspectives on Desistance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95185-7_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95185-7_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95184-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95185-7

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation