Justice-Involved Women and Redemptive Narratives: The Importance of Identity and Marginalization for Desistance

Background:  The fundamental themes affecting justice-involved women, such as sexism, racism, poverty, intimate-partner violence, sexual and substance abuse are also societal issues. Women enter correctional institutions carrying a stigmatized identity, it is reinforced while in prison by the adversary interactions by correctional staff and policies, and then the stigma follows her into the community. Removal of structural barriers are crucial in order for women to successfully take advantage of the opportunities and offered services so they are less likely to engage in criminal activities. This study sought to explore how identity and marginalized status of women mediate relationships between personal and environmental factors, redemptive narratives and community reintegration for women.  Empowerment and narrative theories were used as conceptual frameworks and to contextualize the findings of this exploratory study with incarcerated women seeking to frame the experience of reintegration and desistance process with a feminist lens. 

Methodology:  This study assessed life narratives, marginalization and identity measures from 141 randomly selected women involved in the justice system. Four-step regression analyses were used to assess the mediation of identity and marginalization on redemptive narratives and desistance measures. Additionally, t-tests and correlations were utilized on numerous variables.

Results: Respondents who identified as ethnic groups other than white (n=67) were further assessed for marginalization including poverty and lack of formal education.  A majority (n=47) experienced poverty prior to incarceration and nearly twice as many non-white respondents lacked high school diplomas or GED when compared to white respondents. The majority of participants (85.1%) did not identify with the label of career criminal, 9% were not sure, and only four participants identified as career criminal. Yet, more than half disagreed/disagreed strongly with the identity of persistent offender.  This study found ethnicity and poverty to be correlated with age of first police contact, arrest and persistent offender identity. The identity measures and marginalization were also significantly correlated with human and social capital, optimism and redemptive narratives. Regression models were not significant for redemptive narratives, however were significant for other desistance measures.

Implications:   This research is politically well-timed and relevant for the social work profession to address policy reform efforts in criminal justice.  The objectifying language of “offender” and “perpetrator” keeps individuals in categories of “unredeemed” and complicates an already difficult reintegration.  Justice-involved women need to create new, healthy narratives for themselves that incorporate their strengths and potential for change (Herrschaft et al, 2009).  It is argued (Veysey, 2008) that the process of shedding negative identities requires a larger social context to sustain more positive identities. These finding highlight the additional barriers that women from marginalized statuses must overcome to successfully create lives for themselves post incarceration. These fundamental structural injustices need to be addressed in order to appropriately address this social problem.