Research report

The forgotten victims: Prisoner experience of victimisation and engagement with the criminal justice system: Research report

Many women in prison have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). As this form of violence is often intergenerational and entrenched, women in prison are widely considered to be at particular risk of ongoing victimisation following release from custody.

And yet, their support needs often go unrecognised, and it is likely that a range of barriers exists that prevent ex-prisoners from accessing services. This project, jointly funded by ANROWS and Sparke Helmore Lawyers was conducted in partnership between James Cook University and the South Australian Department for Correctional Services. Led by Professor Andrew Day, this research develops an understanding of the factors that influence help-seeking by women in prison who may have concerns about their personal safety post-release and how this might inform service responses.

From this research, a three stage model of help-seeking and change for women in prison was developed. The model suggests that any individual who experiences IPV must:

• recognise and define the situation as abusive and intolerable (Stage 1);
• decide to disclose the abuse and seek help (Stage 2); and
• identify a source of support and where to seek help (Stage 3).

At the same time, the ability to seek help is influenced by a broad range of individual, interpersonal and socio-cultural factors including:

1. the woman’s own history;
2. the personal networks in which she interacts, and the history of these networks;
3. connections between networks or systems;
4. formal and informal social structures that influence the woman indirectly; and
5. overarching institutional systems at the cultural or subcultural level (social/cultural norms and prejudices).

 

 

Publication details

This work is part of the ANROWS Research reports series. ANROWS Research reports (Horizons) are in-depth reports on empirical research produced under ANROWS’s research program.

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Authors

DR ANDREW DAY
James Cook University

DR SHARON CASEY
Independent Researcher

DR ADAM GERACE
Flinders University

DR CANDICE OSTER
Flinders University

MRS DEB O’KANE
Flinders University

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ISBN: 978-1-925372-85-4 (print) | 978-1-925372-87-8 (online)

106 pp.

 

Suggested citation

Day, A., Casey, S., Gerace, A., Oster, C., & O’Kane, D. (2018). The forgotten victims: Prisoner experience of victimisation and engagement with the criminal justice system (Research report, 01/2018). Sydney, NSW: ANROWS.