Women, trauma, criminalisation and imprisonment ...

This paper provides an exploratory analysis of the relationship between trauma, women’s criminalisation and imprisonment. Research in this area predominantly focuses on women’s pathways to imprisonment and trajectories characterised by victimisation, and social and economic disadvantage (cf Maloney et al 2009; DeHart 2005; Fine 1992). In this article we seek to shift the focus to explore the connections between women’s experiences of trauma, criminalisation and imprisonment. The discussion is based on Surviving Outside, a research project involving interviews conducted in Victoria with 25 formerly imprisoned women and support workers who work with women post-release. The emphasis in this paper is on the life trajectories of criminalised women, marked by institutionalisation, disadvantage and an open-ended struggle for survival.