The Implications of Mental Health on Dispute Resolution Programmes with Female Offenders

Abstract

The intend of this research is to bring light over the needs that female offenders have and how distinct their necessities are from their male counterparts. Women who offend usually come from a background in which they experienced abuses, poverty, deprived from education, employment and end up misusing alcohol and drugs in general, all of which contributes to mental health issues. In fact, most of women who enter the criminal system are found to have more than one mental disorder: women in custody are twice as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than the male offenders and five times more likely than the female population outside of the prisons. These numbers do not determine they women offenders only go in custody for mental health issues, exclusively, but it must be considered when applying dispute resolutions programs such as the victim – offender mediation, in where offender and victims are put together face-to-face in order to promote restoration of the harm done.