Women, the Pains of Imprisonment and Public Health Interventions

Abstract

This chapter explores women’s experience of imprisonment through a multi-disciplinary lens by linking criminological theory to the implementation of a public health intervention for risky drinking. This is an important issue because the prevalence of risky drinking is higher in women in prison (24 percent), compared to their male counterparts (18 percent) (Ministry of Justice and Office for National Statistics. 2018. Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System 2017. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759770/women-criminal-justice-system-2017.pdf)" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759770/women-criminal-justice-system-2017.pdf). It reviews the literature on the gendered experience of women in prison as the basis to develop and implement strategies and interventions that are designed specifically to support their needs. The chapter then reports on a research study that examined what factors need to be considered when implementing Alcohol Screening and Brief Interventions (ASBIs) (Babor, T. and Higgins-Biddle, J. 2000. Alcohol screening and brief intervention: Dissemination strategies for medical practice and public health. Addiction, 95, 677–686.) for harmful drinking for women in prison. ASBIs are used to detect and prevent alcohol problems and have been shown to reduce alcohol intake and associated harm. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of using ASBIs in a female open prison to examine how the intervention could be adapted to meet the specific needs of women in prison.