A qualitative investigation into the impact of domestic abuse on women’s desistance
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550519881684 |
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| Author | Úna Barr,Natalie Christian |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
A qualitative
investigation into
the impact of domestic
abuse on women’s
desistance
U
´na Barr
Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Natalie Christian
University of Sheffield, UK
Abstract
While criminological literature, criminal justice practice, and to a lesser extent, state
policy have acknowledged a link between women’s criminalisation and gendered
violence (MoJ, 2018; O
¨sterman, 2018; Prison Reform Trust, 2017; Roberts, 2015),
there has been much less acknowledgement of the role of historical and con-
temporaneous experiences of violence in the desistance scripts of criminalised women.
Combining findings from two research projects exploring gender and desistance, this
article argues that (i) criminalised women’s experiences of gendered violence are such
that any exploration of gender and desistance which does not acknowledge this is
incomplete, (ii) coercion and control can inform women’s entry into the criminal justice
system, (iii) expressions of agency and resistance in abusive interpersonal relation-
ships can also inform women’s offending, yet (iv) women’s experiences of desistance
from crime can mask the harm they face in coercive, controlling, and violent rela-
tionships. Thus, the article argues for a reframing of desistance from crime as desis-
tance from harm both theoretically and in practice, and considers what this might
entail.
Corresponding Author:
U
´na Barr, School of Justice Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, John Foster Building, 80-98 Mount
Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5UZ, UK.
Email: u.m.barr@ljmu.ac.uk
The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
Probation Journal
2019, Vol. 66(4) 416–433
ªThe Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0264550519881684
journals.sagepub.com/home/prb
Keywords
desistance, domestic violence, coercive control, resistance, agency, gender
Introduction
There has been a recent acknowledgement within both criminology and criminal
justice practice about the link between women’s experiences of domestic violence
and their criminalisation (O
¨sterman, 2018; Prison Reform Trust, 2017; Roberts,
2015). To a lesser extent, there does appear to be some recognition by the state of
the prevalence of domestic violence in the lives of women entering the criminal
justice system (CJS) (MoJ, 2018). What has been much less examined however, in
academic literature, policy, and practice, is how criminalised women’s qualitative
experiences, both historical and current, of domestic abuse affect their desistance.
This article will first consider current policy developments and academic debates
around gendered violence before moving on to consider the development and
prevalence of desistance theory within criminological discourse, and in particular
the failure to recognise gendered harms faced by desisting women within this body
of work. Following this, the methodology of the current article will be explained.
Findings will focus on narratives of the prevalence and interconnectedness of
‘offending’, punishment, gendered violence and desistance in the lives of crim-
inalised women, the presence of agency and resistance within criminal acts, the
invisible nature of gendered violence within desistance narratives, and the conse-
quences of this for theory and practice.
Domestic abuse
The Female Offenders Strategy (MoJ, 2018) recognises that the majority of women
coming into contact with the CJS have experienced abuse and that these women
have not been supported as victims while travelling through the CJS. This recogni-
tion has myriad empirical support. For example, a recent report by Glorney et al.
(2019) highlighted that 64%of 173 women prisoners answering questions about
blows to the head at HMP Drake Hall gave answers consistent with a brain injury,
‘with 89%of reported injuries being traumatic, most commonly sustained through
domestic violence, and of mild and moderate severity’ (Glorney et al., 2019: 5).
This, the authors found, led to problems with memory, attention, anxiety, and
depression. There was a lack of provision for these women in the prison system and
a lack of staff knowledge around the prevalence and effects of brain injury. This
effectively increased the women’s experiences of trauma within an already trau-
matic environment, and following extensive traumatic experiences. Theresa May’s
government stated that it would invest £2 million into community provision for
women with experience of domestic abuse as part of the £5 million promised by the
Female Offenders Strategy, develop guidance on working with ‘vulnerable
women’, and support the roll-out of trauma-informed training for probation and
prison staff.
Barr and Christian 417
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