Gender Matters: An Introduction to the Special Issues on Women and Girls

Abstract

Girls and women represent a minority of forensic mental health and prison populations. However, studies worldwide suggest that there has been a steady increase in the number of girls and women being managed by forensic mental health services and correctional agencies over the past two decades. The vast majority of research in the forensic mental health field, however, remains steadfastly focused on male populations. As such, there are growing concerns about whether the theoretical knowledge we have on male offenders is sufficiently valid and useful for female offenders. There remain substantial gaps in knowledge and debate regarding the importance of gender differences, for instance, in developmental pathways to offending and in violence risk factors and assessment. There is a similar paucity of knowledge on the efficacy of treatment in female offenders and a need for treatment programs that are specifically responsive to the needs and issues of these girls and women. These special issues of the International Journal of Forensic Mental Health dedicated to gender issues in the forensic field marks a substantial effort to enlarge the empirical and theoretical knowledge on (violent) offending, assessment, and treatment in girls and women. In this introduction article, we aim to highlight the relevance of studying gender differences in the forensic field and to provide a brief overview of important gender issues in developmental pathways to offending, gender differences and similarities in the nature of offending, assessment and treatment in forensic mental health care and the criminal justice system. Finally, we provide recommendations for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to move forward on this topic in the forensic field.

Keywords:

• Gender
• violence
• offending
• risk assessment; gender-responsive treatment

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Michelle Pritchard for her assistance with editing.

Funding

Dr. Nicholls is grateful to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for her New Investigator Award and her Foundation Grant.

Notes

¹ The term secondary victimization relates to further victimization following the original victimization, for example, by disbelief or victim-blaming attitudes in society or inappropriate behavior or language by professionals in mental health care or in the criminal justice system.

² Note that prostitution is not illegal in all countries.