Women's Experiences in the United States Criminal Justice Aftercare System

Abstract

Recent changes in political policy have shifted the profile of the average inmate incarcerated in American prisons. In the future, more women will be serving probation, and current aftercare programs are not designed to accommodate their specific needs as they transition to society. This qualitative study was undertaken so that clinicians working with women on probation or families in the criminal justice system would have empirically supported data to support their treatment methods. A discussion of the results from a feminist perspective assimilates the findings in clinically useful ways.

Keywords:

• women
• probation officer
• aftercare
• phenomenology
• ethnicity
• family therapy
• gender-specific interventions
• criminal justice system