Beyond Gender: Tailoring Treatment for Female Offenders to Reduce Recidivism

Abstract

System treats female offenders and how it should treat them. Cauffman starts by looking at past trends in how often and how long female offenders were in the youth justice system, as well as how long they were processed and arrested. She also talks about the normal adult outcomes for female criminals, pointing out that compared to male offenders, female offenders often face harsher long-term consequences for their actions, some of which can even be passed down to future generations. She also looks at things that might make women more or less likely to commit crimes, as well as common trends of crime among girls. She then talks about the results of the study on effective treatment choices for female criminals.Since many female offenders have mental health problems, successful preventative measures should focus on meeting the mental health needs of at-risk girls before they develop long-lasting behavior issues. Cauffman says that sending girls with mental health problems to community-based treatment programs would not only help them, but it would also free up the youth court system to focus on cases that are most dangerous to the public.More and more research shows that treating female offenders in ways that are specific to their gender can help them get better, especially when the program focuses on their social and family settings. It is becoming clear, though, that female offenders are not all the same. In the end, treatment should be based on the unique needs of each patient, which should be decided by factors other than gender.Even though they seem different, Cauffman says that the main reasons why men and women commit crimes are alike in a number of ways. Some people think that the best rules to stop teens from breaking the law will be those that help kids grow up in a safe and caring setting. Cauffman comes to the conclusion that female offenders will probably need ongoing help even after they are no longer in the youth justice system.