Lessons About Female Ex-offender Employment Support From a European Neighbour: Gender-responsive Multiagency Work Programmes and the use of Wage Subsidy Schemes in Sweden
| Author | Linnéa A. M. Österman |
| Pages | 39-52 |
39
British Journal of Community Justice
©2019 Manchester Metropolitan University
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 15(1) 39–52
LESSONS ABOUT FEMALE EX-OFFENDER
EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT FROM A EUROPEAN
NEIGHBOUR: GENDER-RESPONSIVE MULTIAGENCY
WORK PROGRAMMES AND THE USE OF WAGE SUBSIDY
SCHEMES IN SWEDEN
Dr Linnéa A. M. Österman, School of Law and Centre for Criminology, University of
Greenwich
Abstract
With over a decade having passed since the pu blication of the landmark Corston Report
(Corston, 2007), and a new government al Female Offender Strategy having been launched
in the summer of 2018 (Ministry of Justice, 2018), it is an apt time to look forward and think
both critically and creatively about future directions for women, criminal justice and
reintegration. By turning the criminologi cal gaze to a European neighbour – one that has
often been described in terms of an ‘exceptional’ penal landscape – this brief article offers
a case study exploration of the use of gender -responsive multiagency work programmes
and wage subsidy schemes to support female ex-offenders into meaningful employment in
Sweden. Following some introductory reflective thoughts on the role of gender in the ex-
offender labour market entry puzzle, the structure and core ingredients of a successful
multiagency work programme in Sweden will be detailed,1 drawing on qualitative interview
data with both practitioners and female participants. Attention will then be directed to the
use of wage subsidy schemes to supp ort female reintegration through employment. The
article will be concluded with a call for a shift in thinking towards long-term socio-economic
investments in what are described as ‘structural desistance tools ’, emphasising the lasting
value of finding creative solutions to encourage inclusive citizenshi p processes that give
women exiting criminal justice a fairer chance of successful reintegration.
Keywords
Female offenders; gender-responsive programme; employment; wage subsidy; desistance;
Sweden.
1 To ensure anonymity in the data, the programme will not be referred to by name.
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