The Needs and Experiences of Women Offenders Upon Their Release and Reintegration Post-Prison

In recent years, research exploring women’s transitions from prison, and resettlement into the community, has highlighted that returning to substance abuse (Broome, Knight, Hiller, & Simpson, 1996), developing mental health problems (Eshareturi, Serrant-Green, Bayliss-Pratt, & Galbraith, 2014), and finding suitable accommodation and income (Richie, 2001), are the most prevalent problems for women post-release. Little previous research has, however, explored these issues from the perspective of the women themselves. Within the current research, the experience of three female offenders post-release, and nine professionals working with women on their release from prison, are foregrounded in exploring women’s transition from prison to community. Data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis explored the transition experience for women after prison. Findings revealed that four of the main barriers in effective reintegration were; setting up and keeping suitable stable accommodation, accessing a regular income (whether that be through employment or benefits), physical or mental health problems, and return to substance misuse and co-dependency. Whilst these findings supported previous literature, further findings indicated the lasting impact of prison on women, as well as the importance of women’s engagement and relationships with social and professional support services on release. The findings presented within this thesis support a model of transition designed by Binswanger et al (2011) but also point to possible developments of the model in its application to women’s transition from prison. Further implications for theory and practice are also discussed.