Book Reviews
| Author | Jake Phillips, Anne Robinson |
WOMEN AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE: FROM THE CORSTON REPORT TO TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION
Jill Annison, Jo Brayford & John Deering (eds.) (2015). Bristol: Policy Press. pp265 (pbk) £24.99. ISBN 978-1-4473-1931-3
A comprehensive critique of policy and practice surrounding women in the criminal justice system since 2007, this edited book raises timely and pertinent questions about the immediate future of gender responsivity and justice. With a clear focus on policy, and how that policy is translated into practice, it is ideal for those who are looking for an understanding of the wider issues around the recent responses to female lawbreakers in Great Britain. As such, it will be particularly invaluable to service providers and campaigners aiming to navigate the current uncertainty that surrounds provision for women within the criminal justice system. However, it also offers a useful and accessible summary of recent research and practice with women for the academic or student beginning their studies in the area.
The tight focus on policy, and in particular the impact of the Corston Report (2007) and the emerging influence of the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda (MoJ, 2014), is maintained by all the authors throughout the collection. The first part introduces these policy developments, highlighting the most pertinent aspects of Transforming Rehabilitation - namely Payment by Results, statutory supervision for short-term prisoners and Community Rehabilitation Companies - which could most affect women in the criminal justice system. These innovations are critiqued throughout the book, from both theoretical and practical perspectives, leaving the reader in no doubt that their likely influence on criminalised women is, at best, unfortunate. What follows is a comprehensive exploration of what is known about female lawbreakers in England, Wales and Scotland, with a balanced appreciation from several leading academics of the not insignificant progress made since the Corston Review. Nevertheless, despite the evidence presented about female offending and desistance, the authors are clear that there is much work to do in improving the state's provision for women who break the law, whilst also questioning whether the criminal justice system is the best vehicle through which to do this.
The second part of the book focuses on specific programmes and interventions which aim to address the need outlined in preceding chapters for suitable provision. Perspectives from probation, youth justice, women's centres, groups for older prisoners, mentoring and therapeutic communities are all used to evaluate recent policy, largely based on small-scale primary research. Although the specific challenges and foci of this provision vary significantly, there is no doubt that the Corston Report enabled and encouraged better provision for women through practices such as those explored here- although in many cases a fuller implementation of those recommendations would have seen even more improvement. In particular, the need for holistic and relational provision, for women by women, under central oversight, as promoted by Corston, was widely valued. While discussion of the impact of Transforming Rehabilitation varies by chapter, the uncertainties for staff and service users brought by Payment by Results and Community
Rehabilitation Companies (where funding is short-term and localised, leading to high staff turnover and broken relationships, particularly in small-scale projects) are frequently cited as undermining these aims.
The final part of the book questions some of the assumptions at play throughout the other chapters, asking the reader to reconsider whether differential treatment is necessary for women or whether improved sensitivity in sentencing would also benefit male prisoners who share some of women's particular needs, such as those who are primary carers for children. This focus on sentencing is repeated through a more thorough examination of short prison sentences under Transforming Rehabilitation, highlighting the crucial role of...
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