The number of women prisoners has been growing rapidly during recent years and in many places has more than doubled in the past decade, significantly outstripping increases in the number of male prisoners and with particular consequences for minority ethnic, black and aboriginal women, who constitute disproportionate levels of prison populations in many countries including Canada, the United States, the UK and Australia. What Works with Women Offenders provides a comprehensive analysis of the issues relating to work with women offenders. Chapters are written by academics and professionals with a high degree of expertise in their specific field, and its practical focus is designed to make it relevant to those working with women offenders. Imprisoning women offenders does not solve the problems that underlie the involvement of women in the criminal justice system, and a particular concern of this book is to identify and develop alternative responses that offer appropriate support and intervention to address womens underlying problems and reduce re-offending. The increase in womens imprisonment is very much an international phenomenon, and the book also aims to share knowledge and experiences from different jurisdictions to be shared more widely, and for the lessons learnt from good practice to be more widely disseminated.

Introduction, Rosemary Sheehan, Gill McIvor and Chris Trotter 1. The nature of female offending, Gill McIvor 2. The transitional pathways of young female offenders: towards a non-offending style, Monica Barry 3. Sentencing and gender, Loraine Gelsthorpe 4. Risks and needs: factors that predict women's incarceration and inform service planning, Margaret Severson, Marianne Berry and Judy L. Postmus 5. Responding to drug and alcohol problems:innovations and effectiveness in treatment programmes for women, Margaret Malloch and Nancy Loucks 6. Cognitive behavioral programmes, Sue Pearce 7. Parole and probation, Chris Trotter 8. Responding to mental health needs of female offenders, Jim Ogloff and Christine Tye 9. Responding to the health and medical needs of female offenders, Angela M. Wolf, Fabiana Silva, Kelly E. Knight and Shabnam Javdani 10. Women prisoners and their children, Rosemary Sheehan and Catherine Flynn 11. Barriers to employment, training and education in prison and beyond: a peer-led solution, Paul Senior, Caroline O'Keeffe and Valerie Monti Holland 12. Employment:offending and re-intergration, Tracie McPherson 13. Housing and support after prison, Sally Malin 14. What does work for women offenders?, Rosemary Sheehan, Gill McIvor and Chris Trotter