Diverting women from custody
| Author | Carol Hedderman,Clare Gunby |
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550513502249 |
| Date | 01 December 2013 |
| Published date | 01 December 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Diverting women
from custody:
The importance
of understanding
sentencers’ perspectives
Carol Hedderman
University of Leicester
Clare Gunby
University of Leicester
Abstract
There is an unusual degree of consensus around the idea that the trend towards using
custody more frequently for women should be reversed. Both the current and pre-
vious governments in England and Wales have invested in the development of
community-based one-stop shop centres for women with this in mind. Interviews with
a small sample of judges and magistrates, after the Together Women project had
been running in their areas for three years, suggest that the increased provision of
community support for women has been welcomed. However, other changes may
be needed before one-stop shops are seen as a replacement for prison rather than
just as a useful supplement to community orders. These interviews also suggest that
sentencers see the probation service as having a key role to play in bringing about
such a transformation.
Keywords
community orders, one-stop shop, prison, sentencers, women
Corresponding Author:
Professor Carol Hedderman, Department of Criminology, University of Leicester, The Friars, 154 New
Walk, Leicester LE1 7QA.
Email: c.hedderman@le.ac.uk
Probation Journal
60(4) 425–438
ªThe Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0264550513502249
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The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
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