Gender-specific assessment and treatment for female offenders in Hong Kong

Female offenders are distinctly different from male offenders, and present with their own gender-specific needs and issues both in and out of the correctional setting. Most approaches to Coping Mechanisms for female offenders are currently based on research involving males and approaches designed for males. Inquiry regarding the gender-specific needs of female inmates as they pertain to treatment, reentry programs, and Coping Mechanisms is necessary so professionals can better understand how to serve this population. This study investigated the Coping Mechanisms Adopted by Women ex-offenders in Nyeri County, Kenya. The study specifically investigated the effects of not addressing the challenges identified for women returning from prison in Nyeri County especially challenges connected to housing, employment, relationships, drug, and substance abuse as well as mental health after incarceration. This was a qualitative study adopting a phenomenological design. The site and respondents were purposively selected with snowballing being used to select the respondents to the point of saturation. This study made use of 41 women ex-convicts, 3 FGDs, and 9 key informants. Data were collected by the use of semi-structured interview schedules. Results indicated that currently, prison is negatively viewed by the community; this is primarily because of the isolation of prisoners and whatever happens behind the bars. The government should involve other sectors such as the churches, the media, schools, and Non- Governmental Organizations in educating the masses in order to ease the re-entry of ex-convicts

Download Full-text

香港青少年性犯罪者的心理特徵及矫治方法

The Hong Kong Journal of Social Work ◽

10.1142/s0219246297000107 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 31 (01n02) ◽

pp. 127-137

Author(s):

成富李

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Sexual Offenders ◽

Classification System ◽

Correctional Treatment ◽

Sexual Crimes ◽

Sexual Offenses ◽

Cognitive Behavioural ◽

Assessment And Treatment ◽

Classificatory System ◽

Local Research

性犯罪在香港整体罪案数字中只占一个很小的比率，而有关性犯罪的本地研究也十分稀少。现行的罪案分类方式明显地不能反映性犯罪的普遍性，也不适用于对罪犯的评估及矫治工作。本文从一个犯罪心理学的角度提出一套简便的分类系统，以犯罪者的动机和行为为基础对犯罪者作出评估，提供预后推测，并建议一套以认知行为治疗法为本的矫治程序，认为值得广泛推行。文内并有个案描述，以资佐证。 Sexual offenses make up only a small portion of the total number of offenses in Hong Kong, and local research related to sexual offenses is also scanty. The current offense classification system not only fails to reflect the prevalence of sexual crimes but is also found irrelevant to the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders. This article attempts to propose a concise classificatory system from the perspective of criminological psychology. The offenders' motives and behaviours are used as the bases of assessment and prognosis. A cognitive-behavioural approach to correctional treatment is outlined and advocated. Case materials are provided for illustration.

Download Full-text

Violent women: treatment approaches and psychodynamic considerations

Journal of Criminological Research Policy and Practice ◽

10.1108/jcrpp-08-2017-0025 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 124-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Annette McKeown ◽

Ellen Harvey

Keyword(s):

Treatment Effectiveness ◽

Female Offenders ◽

Well Being ◽

Staff Retention ◽

Treatment Approaches ◽

Content Type ◽

Client Group ◽

Female Violence ◽

Assessment And Treatment ◽

The Impact

Purpose Some psychodynamic approaches conceptualise female violence as a communication of experiences too difficult to think about. As practitioners, understanding what may be too painful to be thought about is incredibly important in assessment and treatment of forensic populations. Incorporating psychodynamic concepts such as splitting, transference, projection and counter-transference into formulation can be extremely helpful in understanding and formulating women’s risk of violence. The purpose of this paper is to introduce how psychodynamic concepts can be incorporated into understanding, assessment, formulation and treatment with this complex client group. This paper will also outline treatment approaches with this population. Design/methodology/approach This paper will review existing psychodynamic literature and apply this knowledge to working with violent female offenders. Translating theory into reflective practice will be presented. Findings This paper presents the value of incorporating psychodynamic considerations into existing strategies of understanding and working with violent female offenders. Ways forwards and research directions are proposed. Research limitations/implications This paper is focussed primarily on psychodynamic approaches to understanding this population Practical implications Psychodynamic concepts can add an additional dimension to formulation, supervision and treatment approaches with this population. Examining the meaning of violence perpetrated by women as well as enactments can improve practitioner’s depth of understanding. Empirical research examining the benefits of psychoanalytic supervision would be extremely useful to explore the impact on formulation, treatment approaches, treatment effectiveness, staff well-being and staff retention. Originality/value There is a lack of literature considering the application of psychodynamic constructs to help formulation of complex female offenders in the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway for women.

Download Full-text

An evaluation study of a gender-specific smoking cessation program to help Hong Kong Chinese women quit smoking

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-015-2326-9 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ho Cheung William Li ◽

Sophia Siu Chee Chan ◽

Zoe Siu Fung Wan ◽

Man Ping Wang ◽

Tai Hing Lam

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Hong Kong ◽

Chinese Women ◽

Evaluation Study ◽

Smoking Cessation Program ◽

Hong Kong Chinese ◽

Quit Smoking ◽

Gender Specific

Download Full-text

Alcohol and Polysubstance Abuse among Women

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/070674379504000204 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 73-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Nady El-Guebaly

Keyword(s):

Substance Abuse ◽

Role Models ◽

Traumatic Events ◽

Recovery Process ◽

Relative Significance ◽

Assessment And Treatment ◽

Polysubstance Abuse ◽

The Impact ◽

Alcohol Typologies ◽

Gender Specific

A review of the literature in this relatively new field highlights the legitimacy of gender-specific research on substance abuse in women. Consistent findings compared to men include a higher physical vulnerability to alcohol, a higher risk of assortative mating, the reported association of traumatic events with the onset of substance abuse, a higher psychiatric comorbidity and a shorter interval between first problem and first treatment episode. Intravenous drug use remains the major source of growth of HIV infection among women. Family assessment and treatment as well as the involvement of female role models are critical to the recovery process. Gender-specific services may be recruiting women who might not otherwise have sought treatment for their substance abuse. Further investigation is required in order to distinguish the relative significance of the genetic versus environmental vulnerability of women, the impact of rapidly changing social mores on the onset, pattern and course of substance abuse, possible gender-specific alcohol typologies, the validity of the recall of traumatic events as well as the program variables required in reaching out and engaging women on the path to recovery.

Download Full-text

Suicides in Hong Kong and Australia

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910.19.1.24 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 24-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Paul SF Yip

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Suicide Rate ◽

The Elderly ◽

Gender Ratio ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Young Males ◽

Male Suicide ◽

And Gender ◽

Gender Specific ◽

Methods Of Suicide

Although the suicide rate for both Hong Kong and Australia was about 12 per 100,000 in 1994, the age- and gender-specific rates, methods of suicide, and time trends vary greatly for these two places. This paper explores the possible social, economic, and cultural background to explain this discrepancy. We used the official suicide death statistics of Hong Kong and Australia for the period 1984-1994. We calculated age-standardized suicide rates in order to take into account the differences in the age composition between the two countries and years. We employed a log-linear (Poisson) model to detect the age- and gender-specific trends, and to determine whether there were specific age or gender groups whose suicide behavior had changed significantly between 1984 and 1994. Hong Kong experienced a slight increase in suicide rate for both genders in the years 1984-1994, whereas Australia experienced a cubic trend for both genders during the same period and a rise in suicide rate in recent years. The suicide rate in Hong Kong increased with age, with a sharp increase (nearly four times the average) among the group aged 75 or over. A relatively low gender ratio (male:female) was also observed in Hong Kong, whereas in Australia there was not much difference in suicide rates among all age groups, though the suicide rate of the group aged 75 or over was 1.2 times the average. The gender ratio in Australia was higher, and the male suicide rate was four times higher than that of females. The Hong Kong suicide rate in females was twice that of Australia, whereas the Hong Kong male suicide rate was about half that of Australia. Jumping and hanging were the most common methods of suicide in Hong Kong, accounting for more than 80% of all suicide deaths. Poisoning (including gas poisoning) was the most common method used in Australia, with firearms being more common among young males. Australia had a higher years of potential life lost (YPLL) than Hong Kong because of the higher suicide rate among young males (aged 15-24). The high suicide rate among the elderly in Hong Kong raises the possibility that medical and social support to the elderly could be enhanced. The high female suicide rate in Hong Kong could be related to workload, responsibility, and expectations. The high suicide rate in Australia among males aged 15-24 was disturbing. Availability of the suicide methods is certainly one explanation for the difference in suicide methods used in Hong Kong and Australia.

Download Full-text

Reducing female admissions to custody: Exploring the options at sentencing

Criminology & Criminal Justice ◽

10.1177/1748895816684177 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 546-567 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julian V Roberts ◽

Gabrielle Watson

Keyword(s):

Prison Population ◽

Female Offenders ◽

Judicial Discretion ◽

Sentencing Guidelines ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Women In Prison ◽

Policy Priority ◽

Women's Imprisonment ◽

Gender Specific ◽

Insight Into

Although women represent a small minority of the prison population in all nations, it has long been a concern that custody is overused with respect to female offenders. Reducing the number of women in prison has therefore emerged as a policy priority in many western nations, including the United Kingdom. This article evaluates a range of sentencing strategies to reduce the number of women in prison, on the grounds that their experience of the sanction is disproportionately severe. The challenge is to achieve a reduction in women’s imprisonment without compromising the fundamental sentencing principles of equity and proportionality. Although no jurisdiction has launched a sentencing initiative with this specific aim, the international sentencing literature offers insight into the most effective methods by which reductions may be achieved. Informed by the principle of equal impact, which underpins gender-specific sentencing, we explore policy options in two principal domains: (1) statutory provisions to eliminate or restrict judicial discretion to imprison female offenders; and (2) sentencing guidelines to structure judicial discretion in gender-sensitive ways. We conclude by considering the likelihood of implementing the options.

Download Full-text