‘It Made My Mind Unwell’: trauma-informed approaches to the mental health needs of women in the criminal justice system

Studies have shown that the mental health needs of women who come into conflict with the law are more acute, widespread and diverse than those of men in the criminal justice system (CJS). Interventions and programming in prisons and community corrections are largely designed ‘by men for men’. This has triggered debate about their ability to respond to and address the specific needs of women. The principles of gender-responsive approaches to treatment take the perspective that trauma frequently plays a part in the onset and persistence of mental health and substance use disorders amongst women who have engaged in offending behaviour. This chapter will consider how trauma-informed approaches can offer a gender-responsive framework for working with women in the criminal justice system with mental health needs. The discussion in this chapter is supported by extracts from interviews with women in HMP Holloway undertaken between May 2013 and August 2014 as part of an ongoing research project into women’s pathways into and out of crime