From Prison to Home: Women's Pathways In and Out of Crime

This study uses multiple theoretical frameworks, including desistance, feminist, and life-course theories, to understand women prisoners' reentry, recidivism, and desistance. Drawing from data collected from a series of in-depth interviews, surveys, and official data, the research compares a matched sample of women ex-offenders in the process of desistance with incarcerated female recidivists. Study findings will analyze women's accounts of their pathways into crime, their incarceration experiences, as well as the process of reintegration and desistance or recidivism. In addition, findings from this project will provide insights that can inform policy and practice on means to improve women's successful re-entry post-incarceration. ca/ncf