Effective Interventions for Women Offenders: A Review of Literature

Majority of the women offenders are more likely to commit another offence within three years of release as they lack proper interventions. The purpose of this literature review is to identify specific effective interventions for female offenders. The review examined four effective intervention practises such as ‘in-prison programs’, ‘holistic aid and transition support’, ‘family focused interventions’ and ‘coaching/ monitoring’. A systematic search was conducted using inclusion exclusion criteria as the method to refine results for literature. Some of the female offenders had experienced an abuse, rape, or trauma during their childhood. High levels of family support reduced reoffending for females, where as higher levels increased the likelihood of recidivism for males. The overall result indicates that effective interventions have contributed to a reduction of recidivism among females. This literature review can also provide insights to warrant future research on women offenders and interventions focusing on large population group, different countries and targeted behaviour.